Vocaloid Tales: The Nutcracker
by Kai-P
Summary: It's Christmas morning, 1816, and 16-year-old Hatsune Miku is eager to see what sort of presents her godfather Gakupo the clockwork toymaker and inventor has brought her. But when she receives a strange blue-haired nutcracker as a gift, she learns her new toy has a secret of his own and she's pulled into his desperate flight from the evil twin Mouse Royals.
1. Chapter 1: Miku and the Nutcracker

**Chapter 1: Miku and The Nutcracker**

"Miku, get up already! It's Christmas morning!"

Miku groaned as she tugged at her fresh bedsheets, her brother's voice ringing in her ears. One of the goose down feathers poked at her soft cheek. She tried to work it back down with her fingernail, only for it to fly back up again.

"Miku, mother's going to have both our hides if you're still wearing your nightgown when Gakupo shows up! Come ooooon!"

"Gakupo's never given two whiffs how prepared I am when he comes over," Miku muttered to herself, "It's only mother that cares."

Still, she needed to go down before her brother knocked the door down with his enthusiasm. And appearing like a _proper_ lady kept the peace. Besides, she reasoned, Gakupo Kamui's presence in their home would be a welcome change of affairs. The quirky toymaker never pressured either of the Hatsune children so hard as their mother did.

Miku crawled out of bed, her floor-length, powder blue night gown settling around her bare feet. She opened her wardrobe, choosing a simple yet presentable black and green dress. Noting the snow falling outside her window, she was grateful for the long sleeves – they'd fit well under an overcoat should she choose to take a walk later.

The walks aided in her coping with the stifling atmosphere the home had taken in the last year.

Miku slipped on her white chemise and began to lace up her corset. After that, layer after layer of petticoats. She added a pair of black stockings over her long legs. Finally she pulled the long dress over her head and fastened it shut.

How she envied Mikuo's simple trousers and shirts – she couldn't deny that she could be vain about her appearance, but when she simply wanted to get work done, this was far too much effort! But her mother had spent money the family barely possessed on ensuring her 16 year old daughter was properly presentable now that she was approaching marrying age.

As she finally laced up a pair of black boots, she could already hear her brother stomping down the hallway. "That boy… makes enough of a racket for the both of us!" Miku remarked flippantly as she sat at her vanity and brushed her hair into two long teal pigtails, securing them with worn black ribbons. She stared longingly at the clockwork cat on her dresser – long ago a gift from Gakupo, he'd built the small toy for Miku after she'd cried about not being allowed to have a real cat. Of course all it could really do these days was hop around and jerk around as it tried to walk…

'If I ask Gakupo when mother's not listening, maybe he can tell me how to fix it myself…'

The rough knocking on her bedroom door bounced Miku out of her thoughts. She let out a loud huff and stomped to the door, throwing it open… only to see Mikuo running down the hall as their mother called for them. She just barely saw the back of his grey shirt and black pants as he ran down the hall in a pair of black boots.

Miku lifted her skirts and began to run after him as well – she was not going to let her brother spoil a fine Christmas morning. Just as she arrived in the foyer, Miku spied her mother approaching the front door. The black haired woman gave her daughter a stern looking over before nodding her approval to her appearance – there would be no scolding this morning at least. She opened the door and Miku relaxed at the welcome sight of a familiar man.

"My, what a lovely Christmas morning we find ourselves having this year!"

There stood Gakupo, with that ever so charming smile on his ever youthful face. Despite being old enough to have befriended her parents when she was still a child, Gakupo looked like a dashing young man, nary a wrinkle on his face, his long purple hair pulled into a luxurious ponytail that hung down his back nearly to his waist. His crisp purple overcoat and white shirt and waistcoat underneath showed the care he put into his appearance, along with his snappy black pants and boots. In his arms he carried an abundance of packages – as usual, handmade by himself.

"Oh Gakupo, why don't I help you set these under the tree so you can spend some time with the children…" Miku's mother chided, though a softer tone took hold of her voice as opposed to when she spoke to her children.

In moments the boxes were arranged under the tree and Gakupo had his hands outstretched to his goddaughter. "Well now Miku, you're barely a child anymore, but surely you're not too old for this?"

A smile played at Miku's lips as she happily rushed forward and gave the toymaker a hug. As her head drew near his chest, she heard the familiar tick-tock of his pocket watch buried deep underneath his jacket.

As the two quickly parted, Gakupo just stood looking both Miku and her brother over from top to bottom. "Spirits alive, to think how young you were when we first met…" he murmured, "Where did all the time go?"

At that Miku's mother laughed – a welcome sound that Miku had been hearing less of these days. "Oh stop that, you rascal, barely a day older than when WE first met!"

Gakupo gave the woman a polite hug as well. "Oh, nonsense, you look wonderful, like always!"

Mikuo seemed to have his eyes directly on the packages under the tree. "Sooo… we can open these soon, right?"

At that Miku's mother's face took a more familiar expression. "Mikuo, you know we can't let your breakfast get cold! They'll be waiting here until you finish your breakfast!"

* * *

The Christmas morning breakfast seemed to linger all too long as Miku's mind turned with what Gakupo could have brought by this year. As he and her mother largely spoke of practical matters, she tried to remember all the toys he'd brought in the past. Dolls that cried like real children, soldiers that marched as though in formation, the cat that lunged forward as though pouncing on an invisible mouse, a pink-haired ballerina whose fairy wings fluttered ever so delicately as she mimicked various basic positions. Over time his creations seemed to get more elaborate – perhaps so much time spent alone gave him time to innovate further. On her birthday he'd brought her a small model of what he claimed was his workshop, every worker inside moving from place to place.

Finally all the food was gone and both Miku and Mikuo had permission to open their presents, Gakupo laughing at their enthusiasm as he was wont to do.

Miku immediately made her way over to a large green package, searching for her name and finding it in fine cursive script. She tore open the package, setting the paper aside and lifting the lid.

Inside she laid her eyes upon an elaborate pastel colored castle, looking less like a castle of brick and stone and more a construction out of candy and sweets. "Here, allow me to help you remove that from the box… I'll admit I got carried away with this one…"

Gakupo leaned over Miku's shoulder and again she heard that familiar tick-tock as he grew close. Together the two each grabbed a side of the castle and heaved it out of the box, setting it aside.

"My, Gakupo, you've outdone yourself on this one…" Miku's mother murmured, "Isn't Miku getting a little old for toys like that though?"

Miku marveled at all the people in the castle, reconstructed to perfect detail. Gakupo pointed to various people in the castle as Miku marveled at how he'd come up with stories for each one. "This is the King of Marzipan, he loves his sweets as you might guess… this is the Queen, she dotes over her daughter… this is Princess Pirlipat, forever above those who serve her… the gardeners watering the flowers day after day…"

"Gakupo if I didn't know better, I'd say you lived there!" Mikuo joked.

Miku chuckled but her eyes flittered to a man in a workshop… with purple hair… "Gakupo, is that you!? At a toyshop!?"

The older man let out another rich laugh. "Is the creator not entitled to craft himself a place within his own creations?"

Miku wound the key on the back of the castle and watched as every person made their rounds. The King waving his scepter at his bowing servants, the Queen counting dresses, the princess bossing around her servants, soldiers marching back and forth in formation, servants dusting every piece of furniture, the chef hauling out huge pieces of candy…

But after a few minutes of watching, Miku began to grow somewhat impatient at how repetitive the routines became. It was certainly an impressive work – she couldn't imagine how many little gears needed to be fitted to make so many people move at once. The delicacy of the painting of every figure showed the care its maker had put into the castle – the princess with her brunette bobbed hair and her scarlet gown, even the gardeners each had some individuality that allowed them to stand out. But it felt limited to just these movements, an endless dance of action after action. Slowly Miku found herself losing interest. To her great fear, she began to wonder if she _was_ just growing too old for such wonders.

"Hmph… I can't help but say you're less than impressed…" Gakupo mused aloud.

Miku tried to hide her reaction. "No… but I think I'd like to have a look at what inside the casing some time…"

At that she heard a loud sigh from her mother. "Miku, such rigid work is not intended for young ladies! Perhaps you should be modeling yourself more after the princess there… I doubt she'd have a lack for any suitors."

Gakupo let out a dark laugh. "Anyone who spends that much time fussing over themselves is little use to anyone…"

All of a sudden a loud bang erupted and Miku covered her ears. Sure enough, Mikuo had quietly opened his own present – a small army of tin soldiers. Miku spotted the tiny cork cannonball bouncing off the living room wall. "Direct hit!" he shouted.

"Well at least I still know one of you well enough," Gakupo joked.

Mikuo laughed. "You think when I enlist they'll let me fire a real one?"

"Well it's not so simple to do when you're out on the battlefield!" Gakupo explained, walking over to the little army and crossing his arms in contemplation. "You mustn't forget, there shall most likely be someone on that battlefield looking for you out there too!"

In moments, Gakupo and Mikuo were absorbed in conversations about his past as a soldier. Within a year, Mikuo would be old enough to enlist and more and more Miku found him less interested in being clever and more interested in being a hero. As such behavior was acceptable for a 17 year old boy, that left Miku alone to try and mold herself into something more respectable. Marriageable.

She began to pry at the casing to her castle when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Normally the sorts of toys Gakupo brought were metal and gears, but resting near his seat, laid down with great care, was a small wooden nutcracker. Miku set down the castle and wandered over to it – it looked so different from the normal white-bearded nutcrackers she'd seen growing up. This one had the expected large head and jaw, perfect for slipping in perhaps smaller nuts, but he seemed so much younger, with his blue hair and eyes, rosy cheeks, and round wooden nose. As she picked up the nutcracker and held it in her hands, she felt that whoever had sewn his costume picked a seemingly dated uniform, with a white jacket covered in gold buttons, a long blue sash, neck, and cuffs, black pants, and tall brown boots. His tall black cap completed the ensemble. Such a costume was certainly eye catching on a toy, but Miku doubted it would be practical in a fight. Even so, she had to admit there was something more lifelike about this toy that drew her curiosity.

All of sudden Miku noticed the conversation around her growing quiet. She turned to her family, wondering what she could have possibly done that was so shocking. "Gakupo? Is something the matter?" her mother asked.

"Yea, you were just telling me about the battle of the Weisskopf Hills…" Mikuo prodded.

Gakupo's blue eyes remained transfixed upon Miku… no, not her, the toy. "Oh, I'm sorry, is he important to you?" Miku asked, "I can put him back if you'd prefer. Does he belong to someone special?"

She began to examine the doll again more thoroughly. "I know he's made of wood, though. Did you hide the clockwork inside? I don't see a wind up key or anything…"

Gakupo seemed to regain his composure as a smile crossed his face. "Well, I was intending to give that doll to the first pretty girl that asked about him, given that he's such a handsome fellow. Since you seemed disappointed by the castle, why don't you have him to keep it safe?"

"Well, while the last thing Miku needs is anymore toys," her mother interrupted, "Something useful like a nutcracker should suit her fine."

Miku smiled at the little toy. "Thank you, Gakupo," she said politely, but in the back of her mind she was already planning what sort of odd surprises the nutcracker could possess.

"So what does he do?" Miku asked as she kept prodded at the toy, looking for a mechanism.

"It's a Nutcracker, I think that should be obvious," Mikuo joked, causing his sister to grow frustrated.

"I know that! I meant, does he walk around or move his eyes or… or dance?"

She gestured to Mikuo's toy soldiers which were already starting to wind down. "Fire cannons or…"

"He cracks nuts," Gakupo said, "If he does anything else… that's up to him."

Mikuo's joking laughter rang in her ears.

* * *

The cold winter air felt refreshing after the morning spent indoors. Miku's mother and Gakupo had gone out for some shopping, so it was just her and Mikuo at the house. Her brother was indoors, having already begun to merge his toy armies together. She couldn't understand why that's all he could think of when such elegant creations stood before him. Even if the clockwork castle was repetitive, Miku still found herself entranced by the knowledge of what made it move.

But right now there was the puzzle of her new nutcracker. Gakupo didn't normally keep such ordinary toys on him – and he was daft if he thought nobody had noticed his dramatic reaction to Miku putting her hands on it. "Maybe you're some kind of prototype…" Miku whispered, "Whatever you are though, there is something special about you, and I'm going to figure it out."

She ran her hands underneath the shirt, and while she easily found the long lever hanging down to form the back of his coattail, controlling the mouth in order to crack an actual nut, she found no other signs of unusual mechanical additions. She knocked her fingers against his large head, but she didn't hear the familiar rattling of gears. "Come now, Gakupo would never keep something so ordinary…"

She let out a sigh as she kept pacing herself through the gardens outside. "Well, we'll have plenty of time together to sort you out, all right little nutcracker?"

Miku's eyes took in the serene landscape, dusted with snow. She wanted to burn it all into her mind – this could well be her last proper winter at home. "Mother wants me to go to finishing school…" she said aloud, "They might not let me take you there. I'm supposed to be learning how to be a proper lady."

She started angrily mimicking her mother's voice. "Sit up straight, stop running out doors, do you even know how messy you're making this room? Women aren't supposed to be taking toys apart, they're supposed to be practicing their handwriting!"

She sighed. "Teto would have loved that joke…" Miku said, "Her family had the money to send her out last year though. I hear she's already well on track to finding a nice husband."

Indeed, she'd already heard her friend Haku had found a husband and didn't even end up moving back home. But such a path wasn't the one Miku desired. While she loved some more traditional past times such as singing, she also yearned to try something more intellectual… more like what her godfather did.

"Making toys wouldn't be so bad… they make children happy right? Then I don't see why I can't learn the practicalities needed for such a career on my own…"

Miku dusted the snow off the wooden bench and grabbed a seat, gently resting the nutcracker in her lap. "It's not that… I don't want to fall in love… or get married…"

… it was just that she didn't need that to be her entire life. Everything she loved as a child, every dream she wanted to have, felt like it was being suffocated. "Why do they keep trying to make me into something I'm not?! I just want to be myself and still make everyone happy… is that never going to happen?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down, and yelling at a nutcracker wouldn't help. She began to recall a favored song she'd learned when her family could still afford a music tutor.

 _"Will I find what I'm looking for lying somewhere on this endless road? I will surely be able to find it when tomorrow comes… so I just need to open my eyes right now!"_

Singing had been something she enjoyed once almost as much as building things. Sometimes the monotony of fitting the pieces together washed away from a little song or two, cleared her head… using part of her body while she focused on her mind.

 _"Is what I'm looking for waiting for me beyond this endless sky? I need to be a little more positive than yesterday… so I will stretch out my hands right now!"_

Her mother wasn't always like this, Gakupo had assured her. She'd been a more hopeful person when Miku's father was still alive. Now that she was older Miku was more aware of how Gakupo had been helping to support the family as he could, even though his toymaking job took him across the world for months at a time. Even so, it was one thing to be practical, but another to utterly stifle her!

 _"There is no meaning to humans' existence in this world… that's why everyone tries to search for their "reason of living"..."_

Miku stopped, her emotions clearer. She could have laughed at herself, talking to a toy as if she still were a little girl. 'Well… and to think I was worried I'd outgrown toys altogether…'

She gave the little nutcracker a pat on the head. "Well! You've been a wonderful little listener, my Nutcracker. Thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

Miku's face stood frozen in shock. Had it just… talked to her?

Again Miku began to fuss over the doll – what had she missed?! Had Gakupo really snuck in some kind of audio box? But… why did it answer her right then?! How could it possibly be _smart_ enough?!

The pig-tailed girl darted her head around – was it Mikuo playing a prank? But this voice sounded a little older than him…

Now Miku didn't quite know WHAT to make of this strange toy, but she wasn't letting it out of her sight until she figured it out!

The nutcracker spoke no more, only staring ahead with its wide painted eyes and frozen wooden smile.

* * *

As Miku entered the house, still examining the nutcracker with the utmost concern, she nearly bumped straight into her brother. "Miku, you're day-dreaming _again_?! You got your head up in the clouds so much, you can't pay attention to what's on the ground!"

Before she could offer a snappy retort, Mikuo had snatched the nutcracker from Miku's hands and started making his way towards the kitchen. "HEY! Give that back at once!" Miku insisted, chasing after her brother and making as if to take her new "friend" back.

"Calm down, you can have him back… I just wanted to see how good he was at his _job._ "

Mikuo had sat down at the kitchen counter, where out lay a small bowl full of assorted holiday nuts. He plopped the doll down on the table as he began fishing through them. "He's got a smaller mouth, but he looks pretty strong… he can probably handle all kinds of things."

At once Mikuo grabbed for an almond and shoved it into the nutcracker's teeth. Before Miku could stop him, Mikuo had pushed the lever and at once the shell cracked perfectly. He dumped out the debris, gnawing on the nut as he handed the doll back to his sister. "Your turn!"

"You could have _asked_!" Miku huffed, but she had to admit she did at least want to put the toy to use. She grabbed for a small pecan, careful to make an allowance for the size of the opening in the nutcracker's face… and with a satisfying crunch, the little soldier had demolished the shell at once.

And so for a few moments brother and sister were finally at peace, each taking one turn after another going through the nuts in the bowl. Miku found herself rather disappointed that the toy didn't seem to possess any unusual abilities as far as nutcracking went, but at least that worked. 'But it still doesn't explain why Gakupo would be carting it around…'

The calm snacking came to an abrupt halt when Mikuo plucked a rather large almond from the bowl. "Wait, Mikuo, I don't think that'll fit right!" Miku warned.

"Come now, I think he's a good enough soldier to be able to crack through it!"

Wedged tight in the nutcracker's jaw, Mikuo yanked the lever and…

CRACK!

"MIKUO!"

The older boy looked surprised as this time the nut did not break, but the poor nutcracker's jaw had. The wood had large hairline cracks within the surface, the lever hanging far looser. Miku grabbed the toy back at once, yanking out the nut and trying to inspect the damage. "Miku… I'm… I'm sorry…"

"Why can't you be more careful with my things?!" she shouted at him, "Don't you have any respect for them?!"

Mikuo did look legitimately upset, but clearly there was little he could say. "Oh… I don't have anything to fix him either…but…"

Miku pulled a ribbon from her hair and carefully wrapped it around the jaw of the toy. "There… you won't get any worse, my nutcracker…"

"What in the world was that commotion about?"

On the sound of Miku's mother's voice, both children sat up straight in their seats. "Indeed, what could have caused such a sudden disturbance?"

Gakupo followed the older woman into the room. "Oh, did your nutcracker sustain war damage?" he said, noticing the little ribbon around its jawline.

Mikuo tried to explain nervously. "I… Miku and I were trying him out on the nuts and…"

"…and Mikuo just smashed through his jaw!" Miku shouted at him.

"I didn't do it on PURPOSE!"

"Settle down, both of you!" Miku's mother said and at once both children fell silent. "Mikuo, I know you didn't mean to break her toy, but this isn't the first time you've been that careless."

Miku heard that familiar tick-tock sound as Gakupo leaned close to her. "Why don't you let me have a look at him? I'm sure he's not badly hurt."

The pig-tailed girl gently handed the toy to the toymaker and his trained eye immediately spied the damage. "Oh, this isn't too serious… I have some of my tools with me in town, I'll take care of him for you. He'll still need to rest like a good soldier though."

For a moment, Miku wanted to ask him one question – why had she heard the nutcracker speak? But then she fell silent again. Not in front of her family or she'd never hear the end of their jokes or scolding. She simply nodded her head politely.

* * *

True to his word, Gakupo had the toy returned to Miku's home by the time he came by for dinner, though Miku noticed he'd left her hair ribbon wrapped around his jaw. When she'd asked why, Gakupo first covered by claiming the doll needed to recover just like any good soldier and a fair maiden's "token" was the best medicine. When she pressed him though, he admitted the wood glue needed to stay solid.

And so Christmas dinner passed without any further incidents. Miku took her nutcracker and her toy castle up to her bedroom – the castle she set on an end table in the corner, the nutcracker she gently laid on her vanity. "Don't worry, Mikuo won't be coming in here tonight, okay? You're safe."

Miku found herself talking to the toy again, hoping to prompt another response, but he stayed silent again. 'I hope I'm not going mad among everything else…' she thought to herself.

And yet she'd still turned the doll's head away from her as she changed back into her night gown before she went to sleep.

The sound of her door opening and footsteps awoke Miku from an easy slumber. "Mikuo? Get out…" she muttered before she regained her senses – she always locked her bedroom door for privacy, so it couldn't have been him…

Her eyes floated around the room before she noticed something missing from her vanity – the nutcracker!

Miku quickly hopped out of the bed, her long hair bouncing behind her as she ran across the room, putting her shoes on as soon as her feet touched the cold floorboards. She _thought_ she'd locked the door, right? Mikuo wouldn't take her toy again, would he? Yet as she marched towards his bedroom door, she heard two sounds that cast doubt on that theory – the first, Mikuo's loud snoring from inside the bedroom.

The second?

A crashing noise in the living room.

'Did no one hear that?!' Miku thought as she tip toed to investigate it. Yet no one else in the house stirred.

As she entered the living room Miku thought at first she was going to faint at the sight.

Across the floor moved a small swarm of mice. Miku wanted to shriek out right there to get rid of them, but something else drew her attention before that. The mice… were chasing someone.

 _And one of the mice was talking._

"You thought you'd get away from us by hiding with the humans, did you?!"

"Nobody escapes our power! We'll tear your limbs of and grind them to dust!"

Miku thought she heard the voice of a young girl and boy, and finally she spotted…

… the strangest looking mice she'd ever seen.

They looked somewhat like small humans with token mouse-like features. They possessed patches of gray fur around their shoulders, knees, hands, and feet, but most of their skin was peach like human skin. Their large, furry, floppy ears rose out behind their heads, their long whiskers twitched around tiny pink noses and their long, thin, pink tails whipped around behind them as they darted across the room. Yet each of these strange mice possessed blond hair and wore yellow, regal clothes and glittering crowns upon their heads. The girl a glamourous yellow dress and cape, the boy a sharp military uniform.

And climbing up Miku's Christmas tree, to her great shock, was her _nutcracker_ , trying to stay concealed in the branches, still wearing her ribbon tightly bandaged around his face.

Miku crouched down behind the sofa as she tried to take stock of what she was looking at. 'I must still be dreaming… otherwise everyone would be awake right now… and… and mice don't talk and dolls don't climb trees and…'

"He went up there somewhere!" the girl shouted, pointed a clawed finger up the tree, "You lot, get in there and haul him out!"

At once the boy and his army began to climb into the Christmas tree. Miku saw the nutcracker trying to get up higher and higher, looking for some kind of safety, but none remained for him. She saw him desperately begin to throw Christmas ornaments down the tree at his approaching foes and somehow in spite of his doll's face it seemed to Miku as if his face was more lifelike and expressive now than it was before.

"THERE HE IS!"

Miku saw the nutcracker crawl out of the branches, trying to find another place to escape to but none remained. The boy approached him menacingly along the same branch, forcing the nutcracker to the very end. He had no more room without falling off into the waiting arms of the army below.

"Maybe I should turn you to splinters right now for how far you've made us chase after you!" the mouse boy called out.

On hearing such a horrible threat to her poor nutcracker, Miku had finally had enough. She still didn't know what was going on but she yanked one of her shoes from her feet. She didn't have any other weapons to turn on the mice herself… she aimed carefully at the mouse boy and hurled it with all her might…

"LEN!"

Miku just barely caught sight of the shoe smacking him off of the Christmas tree. He rolled down the branches and hit the floor. Miku hid behind the couch, hoping they hadn't seen her. "Where did that come from!? Who dares attack the Mouse King?!"

She could hear the girl shouting and Miku tried to curl up as small as she could. She wasn't exactly sure what a bunch of mice could do to her but she wasn't about to find out!

"Len! Len, please wake up!"

Miku chanced a peek around the couch and saw the girl hovering over the fallen "Mouse King." She worriedly looked into the Christmas tree and saw no sign of the nutcracker. She hoped that meant he had safely escaped.

"Oh, give up on him for now! We must ensure my dear King is safe! But that nutcracker is going to pay for this crime as well!"

She heard the pitter-patter of mouse feet on the carpet – so many at once! She tried to find somewhere to hide from their sight, ducking quickly into the coat closet and watching the mice escape between the slats. The girl had her "King" held close to her…

As much as Miku didn't want to, she had to know how they'd gotten into the house. She needed a way to stop them from returning! She pried her other shoe from her foot and began to tip toe along the rug, following the sounds of the mice… they ran through the hallway, near the bedrooms…

Miku following them into the dining room, standing close to a glass cabinet as she lost sight of the many mice near her. She looked around for them, trying to find some method of escape…when she felt her foot touch something soft…

"OH! YOU AWFUL HUMAN! HOW DARE YOU!"

In Miku's panic she fell backwards into the cabinet as the glass shattered… and she fell into unconsciousness…

* * *

 **A/N:**

WHOO! Can you believe it's already been three months since the end of Broken Wings? I can't believe it either. This story almost didn't happen but when it got closer to November I felt like I could pull it off.

At last, a real return to Vocaloid Tales! I always intended The Summer and Winter Garden to be the first in a loosely connected series of fairy tale adaptations, and the Nutcracker is a bit of a late period adaptation, but technically… so is the version of Beauty and the Beast most modern adaptations work from. The original story was written in 1816 by E. T. A. Hoffman, as a novel entitled "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." As you can see, I had a very practical reason for dropping the latter half of the name ;) The most well-known version of the story however is not a book or movie, but the Tchaikovsky ballet from 1892. The ballet is a much simpler tale, with the entirety of the plot resolved in the first act and the remainder of the ballet is simply the two protagonists watching people show up and give them stuff and dance. Obviously, I'll be pulling more from the novel than the ballet, but you'll find I've snuck in some elements from the ballet anyway where I can. There's been plenty of adaptations of the Nutcracker in film and animation, but there's no one definitive production that everyone points to the way Disney managed to completely monopolize Beauty and the Beast for the last two decades. Even Barbie has done her own CGI Nutcracker story! I also left Miku at her default age because seriously, the source material has her as an eight year old romancing an adult and… NO LOLI.

I do hope fans of my last two stories have a little faith in me with the direction I seem to be taking the Kagamines. With them, as with the Nutcracker himself, nothing is ever what it seems. In the novel, there is in fact a Mouse Queen mentioned in the backstory, but she's also killed in the backstory. I thought the idea of evil mice would be interesting to place the Kagamines into, since its kind of cute and playful. The Mouse King in the story is also depicted with seven heads. I'll have my own answer to that much later.

 **Song Credits** : Miku sang part of "Monochrome Blue Sky." What, you thought her not actually being a singer in this story would ever get me to stop including song lyrics?


	2. Chapter 2: The Land of Dolls and Sweets

**Chapter 2: The Land of Dolls and Sweets**

 _The cold winds bit at his exposed skin, his purple hair tossed around. He had nothing left – they were all dead, and if the enemy found him, he would be dead too._

 _If the blood loss from the wound in his shoulder didn't kill him first. He continued to clutch at his jacket over his chest, trying to stop the bleeding, but he knew he needed medical attention._

 _He wasn't sure he would find it._

 _Finally he collapsed in front of a dead tree, his weakened body refusing another step. He clutched his sword close as he spied a soft light approaching him. Were they the enemy's lanterns? Then there was no point… he wasn't strong enough to stand up again and they'd have muskets…_

 _"To what color am I dyed? The size of the dyed thing changes because of the difference of the dyed color."_

 _The ethereal female voice he heard echoing around him made him assume he was being drawn into the afterlife. But as his vision began to blur he saw an altogether different silhouette – sleek and feminine. As she grew closer, he could see a woman in a long, fur-lined white coat and hat, black gloves along her hands and white boots upon her feet. The winds seemed to treat her far more kindly as her long pink hair seemed to dance around her instead of flapping around._

 _As he watched her lips moving, singing her strange song, he recognized he hadn't in fact imagined the voice at all. Nor did it belong to a ghost… this was a real person, walking his way._

 _"To what color am I dyed? The color to be dyed changes under the influence of the private life."_

 _The woman continued her approach and he thought he could see a light glow upon her features. He tried to call out to her as she grew close, but only managed a grotesque cough._

 _"The color for which I hope is a color with high brightness. I want to become beautiful mind. I want to become it."_

 _She knelt at his side, and all he could truly see anymore was her soft, sky blue eyes and her stoic smile. "Mortal, what do you wish for?"_

 _Finally he forced himself to talk. "I wish… I wish to survive…"_

 _She laughed, as if the chaos around them meant nothing to her. "A practical wish, but you can tell me more than that. If you survive, what do you wish to do?"_

 _He'd never been a man meant for battle – he'd only wanted to improve his craft, to make children smile and improve other's lives. But that was not a life for a man born of his low station, and thus out of options to support his sister, he became a man of war…_

 _"I… I want to make them happy… everyone… I want to build for them and make their lives better…"_

 _She nodded her head. "Then come with me. I can take you to a place where you can attain your desire. But you must understand the price of coming with me. You may lose everything if you lose sight of your true self."_

 _He felt darkness closing in upon him but he understood what he was speaking to. And it gave him a glimmer of hope to realize something so wonderful could truly exist._

 _"Take me away… oh faerie…"_

* * *

 _"Dark eyes, white skin, this is a doll who can sing… his passion never stops, the soul of the doll is shivering…"_

Miku heard a familiar voice singing in her room as she finally awoke. She was aware of pain in her bandaged arm and winced as it shot through her limb as she tried to move it. She wiggled her feet, feeling a soft pair of slippers on them. She turned her head to see Gakupo at her vanity, his back to her as he focused on some task of his own, singing to himself along the way.

 _"However, I'm just an illusory singing machine. I even can't hug you with my own hands. I want to sing more and more for you…this is my only hope."_

"Gakupo?" Miku called out to him.

At that he swung around to face Miku at once. "It's good to see you safe, my dear! I must admit I was rather worried about you when your mother told me what happened!"

Miku rested her hand to the bandages. "Where is she now?"

As if on cue, the raven-haired woman ran into the room. "Miku! Miku, oh my poor girl, what were you doing last night?!"

Before her daughter could explain, her mother had thrust the covers away and started to examine Miku's arm carefully. "Putting that war nurse training back to use again?" Gakupo joked.

Miku's mother tugged back at the bandages and examined the skin carefully. Miku winced again as she saw the scratches. "Fortunately, the cuts aren't too deep… you must have passed out when you bumped your head…"

She wrapped up the bandages once more and rested her daughter lightly in the bed. "Now honestly, Miku, you must tell me – why were you up last night and how did you come to be injured?"

At once the odd sights flooded her memories and she struggled for the words. "Mother, some sort of a crash woke me up last night… my bedroom door had been opened from the inside. When I entered the living room, I saw… I saw an army of MICE! They were chasing my nutcracker up the Christmas tree!"

Already she saw a familiar doubtful face. "Miku, this isn't the time for stories. What really happened?"

She steeled herself to continue. "I promise, it's true! I threw my shoe at the Mouse King to save the nutcracker, then when I tried to follow them to see how they got into our house, I tripped over the Mouse Queen and fell into the cabinet!"

Her mother let out a sigh of frustration. "All right… it's obvious that you must have been sleepwalking last night."

"But mother-!"

"That would explain the mess in the living room – all the Christmas ornaments were on the floor, shattered… you must have bumped the tree while you were wandering around and your shoe fell off – "

Miku tried one last time to argue the truth of the matter. "No, the nutcracker was throwing the ornaments at the mice! They were chasing after him!"

" – and then while you wandered the dining room you ran into the cabinet. That would explain the lack of serious wounds."

Her daughter fell utterly silent. Miku was so certain of what she'd seen but as her mother laid out the more realistic explanation, it was difficult for Miku to see any other possibilities. Her nutcracker was a toy, not a person, and surely so many mice would have caused more of a stir in the home. Even as the events had transpired Miku had been doubting her own eyes – so that must have been part of the dream as well.

"There, does that sound better? Just make sure you leave your door locked next time and you probably won't hurt yourself before you wake up."

Miku's mother gently kissed her daughter on the forehead. "I'm so glad you aren't too seriously hurt. I already sent Mikuo down to the chemist to get you some laudanum so the pain is a little more bearable."

She lightly fluffed her daughter's hair. "And just this once, I'll get the breakfast tray and bring you something to eat."

And just like that, her mother was gone, Miku already beginning to dismiss the odd events that had transpired around her… until she noticed the strange look Gakupo was giving her. "I'm sorry to have worried you over a bout of sleepwalking, Gakupo…" she apologized.

He shook his head. "It sounds like a most fantastic story, that's for certain," he said, regaining his normal composure at once.

He turned towards the vanity for a moment, turning back to reveal Miku's nutcracker in his hands, the jaw completely repaired. "Now _he_ can nurse _you_ back to health!"

Miku laughed in spite of herself as Gakupo handed the nutcracker back to her. "You must have really worried about him to have such a daring dream as that… taking on an army of mice without a thought for yourself!"

"Well it felt so scary in the dream!" Miku said, "It was so strange though, he looked so much more… alive… even though he was still just a doll."

She ran her hands along the nutcracker's silky blue hair – even though it still felt artificial, it was so soft. "Well, I'm glad none of it was real and that mice aren't really trying to take this little toy."

Miku looked to her godfather and saw him staring at the castle in the corner of her room. "You know, I never did tell you the story about this castle, did I?"

He wandered over and turned the key and once more the little clockwork people came back to life. "I told you about the King and Queen and their daughter, yes?"

"Princess Pirlipat, I remember," Miku added, wondering what had overtaken Gakupo so suddenly.

"I didn't tell you about the Mouse King and Queen, did I?"

At those names, Miku shivered. "Gakupo, you're just… using the names from my dream!"

He smiled slyly at her. "A little blonde boy mouse and girl mouse in regal clothes?"

At that, Miku's mouth hung agape. How had he known!?

His eyes turned back to the castle. "You see, those mice caused quite a stir in the kingdom, stealing sweets and luxuries wherever they went from every doll and human there…"

"Wait…" Miku interrupted, "Dolls? You're not telling me this kingdom had… living toys?"

At that her godfather released another rich laugh. "Well by now you've surely understood this is a _magical_ kingdom, right? It's that Land of Dolls and Sweets after all!"

He walked over to Miku and tapped her nose lightly. "No more interruptions! Anyway…"

As Gakupo continued, Miku began to study the castle more closely, trying to get an idea of the cast of characters that were populating his odd little story.

"But they grew too bold when they tricked the young Princess Pirlipat into allowing them into the King's cellars, allowing them to make off with his prized strawberry syrup intended for his favorite shortcake. And so he set an entire army upon them, chasing every mouse out of the entire kingdom with his clockwork army, built by the inventor and toymaker Drosselmeyer."

"But the mice were far more powerful than he anticipated, waging war to be allowed back in. And they cursed the name of the Princess who betrayed them to the King, swearing they would eventually make their way back into the castle and punish her…"

Miku was about to shout that the Princess seemed to have committed no crimes, but she remembered Gakupo's reminder to stay quiet. Instead she clutched her nutcracker closer. "And one day, they finally made good on their promise. All at once, the Princess found herself under a cruel enchantment, transformed into a grotesque living doll, frightening all who looked upon her with her wretched appearance… The King chose to blame not his own rash actions, but Drosselmeyer for this crime and tasked him to restore her on pain of death. In the end, it was not Drosselmeyer who saved her, but his nephew… only for the boy's kindness to become his undoing…"

Before he could continue his story, Miku's mother finally entered carrying a breakfast tray. "Oh I leave you two alone for just a few moments and Gakupo's already weaving another fantastic tale about his toys for you…"

The tray settled in Miku's lap. "Here, Mikuo brought me the laudanum, I'll just stick right here on your nightstand. Just get a good breakfast before you take it, okay?"

Miku began to pick at the fresh breakfast sausage, but she found herself watching the toy castle one more time. "Gakupo, which one is Drosselmeyer's nephew?"

He turned to look at Miku's nutcracker. "If you're very good, I'll tell you the rest of the story. But Drosselmeyer's nephew is not in the castle."

For a moment, Gakupo looked over his shoulder and watched as Miku's mother departed. He walked close to Miku's bed and knelt by her side. "Now Miku, let's suppose that dream you had last night were to be real," he said in a low voice, "You attacked the King and Queen of Mic. Do you really intend to protect your Nutcracker no matter what?"

She drew the nutcracker close to her body, staring into his eyes. In spite of his frozen expression, she was certain she could still imagine his animated face just as he had been last night. She remembered how desperate he'd become trying to protect himself. And in spite of her fear of the mice… all she'd wanted to do was save him.

Miku lovingly stroked his silk hair. "Of course I do."

Gakupo gave her an odd smile on hearing her response. "Dear Miku, you will have to suffer much if you are to look after Nutcracker, for the Mouse King and Queen will pursue him in every land and across any border. I cannot help him - only you can do that. Be faithful and strong."

* * *

The laudanum helped Miku's pain but the effects of the opiate left her drifting in and out of consciousness during the day. Occasionally she heard Mikuo playing with his toy soldiers again. At one point he came in to check on his sister and her nutcracker, who she'd left on her bed. He apologized for breaking the toy, and Miku guessed he even felt responsible for her sleepwalking fit.

Whenever she was awake, she'd stare at her nutcracker. It felt somewhat childish to keep a toy on her bed like this, but something about him didn't add up. So many strange events seemed to follow him around… she'd accepted the truth about her sleepwalking so readily but then she still remembered that odd moment when he seemed to have spoken to her…

"Oh Nutcracker, why did those mice want to hurt you so?"

That evening, Miku locked her door properly before she fell asleep again… but this time she was awoken by the sounds of a familiar voice.

"You miserable wooden creep! How dare you allow my dear King to come to harm!"

Miku snapped awake. The nutcracker was missing from her bed again!

"Why are you chasing me?! What have I done to you?!"

Slowly Miku turned under her sheets, looking over the side of her bed. In the back corner of her room, right next to the castle, was a bright, shimmering mouse hole. And at the foot of her bed stood her nutcracker, standing at his full height.

His body seemed a little different now – his head had shrunk to being in proportion with the rest of his body, his painted face shifting expressions to match his emotions. Yet clearly his wooden skin remained the same, and his limbs rotated as though they still possessed ball joints.

Miku shifted carefully, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"It was you who crossed us! You who tried to ruin our revenge! If we can't have the princess, we'll make you pay in her place!"

The Mouse King's voice again, "Len".

The nutcracker stood motionless for a second before he shook his head. "I've no idea what you speak of. I'm just a doll, I don't know any princess…"

Miku began to search for something, anything, she could use to deal with the mice in her room again… she spied the toy cat on the vanity…

"And now you lie to us! That's it, we'll hurt your pretty new friend if you put up a fight again!"

At that the nutcracker sounded angry. "I won't let you hurt Miku!"

He leapt from the top of the bed to the floor and Miku could hear the mice chasing him around the room. Miku quickly sat up and tried to slip to the edge of her bed, hoping to reach the toy in time…

"Give it up, Queen Rin and I have you surrounded!"

There was the nutcracker standing atop the castle, looking for somewhere to escape… at once the mice climbed the castle and laid their hands upon him. No matter how the nutcracker struggled, they maintained their powerful grip on him. "And so it ends for you…" Len said, malice in his voice, "Perhaps we'll just gnaw you to bits right now and leave the scraps for your pretty friend to find in the morning!"

Quickly Miku just barely reached her toy and wound it with speed…

"Wait! She's awake!"

All of a sudden every mouse in the room was looking at Miku and she was trying to stay brave in spite of it. And at once she tossed the toy into the center of the crowd of mice.

With the toy properly wound, it began to leap forward, making adorable mewling sounds as it did so. And fortunately for Miku, no matter how strange the two Mouse Twins were, they did seem to maintain a mouse's fear of cats.

"CAT! CAT! Run for your lives!"

The mice scattered as the toy continued to pounce on its timer. Miku saw them drop the nutcracker and she ran forward to scoop him up…

… and that's when she heard Rin's voice.

"No! I'll not allow her to cross me! You can become an ugly little doll just like him!"

Miku barely saw it coming – as the Twins crossed their tails together and waved their hands, a bright yellow and orange light shot towards Miku… yet she felt nothing but the rush of power flowing through her, her body tingling like she was being lightly pricked by pins all along her skin…

When it was done, she barely had time to react before a wooden hand grabbed hold of hers. "We have to run! Now! Through the mouse hole!"

And that's when Miku realized she was now staring at the nutcracker… and she was now proportional to his size. "EEK! What did they do to me?!"

Miku saw her bed towering over her like a grand castle, her vanity table a canopy over her. She looked back at the mice and they looked so much more menacing and dangerous now that they were the same size as her. "Oh no, I'm so small! What am I going to do!?"

"They're going to do worse if we don't go! Don't worry, Miku, I'll keep you safe!"

She looked to her nutcracker and again to the mice who began to regroup as the cat toy wound down. "Please… Miku, you saved me, now let me save you too."

She stared into the nutcracker's painted blue eyes and saw nothing but his sincerity. The two turned towards the mouse hole and ran towards the light. "You lot, after them!" Len shouted, "I don't know how she evaded our true power, but she can't escape forever!"

"If we go through the mouse hole, aren't we going even deeper into their territory?!" Miku shouted to her new companion.

She was surprised to hear him laugh in spite of everything. "That mouse hole… is a bit more complicated than you realize…"

As the light approached them ever closer, Miku held her breath, not sure what would lay in front of her. Part of herself was trying to remind her that this must be a dream, none of this could be real, and yet every one of her senses reacted to it. The solid wooden hand she was grasping, the sound of their footsteps…

… and now an even odder smell…

… a smell like sugar…

As she crossed into the light her slipper-covered feet crunched into fresh fallen snow. "Wait… we're outside?"

The light from the morning sunrise further surprised her… how was it already morning?!

The nutcracker surveyed the area. "We need to get somewhere where they can't follow our footsteps…" he murmured, "There, the snowfall in the trees is lighter… we might find some cover!"

As they dove into the trees, Miku half expected them to be coated in chocolate or made of peppermint, but that was not the case – they were perfectly normal trees. As the two of them reached hard ground, the nutcracker found his way to a small cave with white snow atop it. He and Miku hurried inside, and for several moments they listened carefully for the signs of pursuit. In the distance she thought she could hear an army moving in the distance, the shrieks of the Mouse Twins… but finally silence.

She dared to breath a moment… and then she found herself beginning to cry.

The nutcracker touched one of his wooden fingers to her cheek as the tears fell upon it. "What… what are you doing?" he asked softly.

Miku tried to dry her eyes and compose herself again. "I… I don't understand what's happening! You're alive, and then we're running for our lives… and they… they did something to me and now I can't even go home like this!"

She tried to remember the odd way they came to this place. "Even if I knew the way… how will I get back to normal? Oh, my mother is going to be so worried about me… everyone's going to be looking for me out near the house but they'll never find me in a mouse hole and…"

Her tears overwhelmed her once more as her fears clogged her thoughts. For a few moments the nutcracker didn't even speak, just sitting back and leaning against the wall. As Miku's tears finally faded, he uttered a single phrase.

"I'm sorry, Miku."

Miku took a few breaths so she could try and speak normally again. "No, please don't apologize, it's not your fault you were in danger…"

The nutcracker crossed his legs and arms in front of himself, looking up at the ceiling. "Weeeell… I don't actually know that…"

"You don't know why they're chasing you!? They definitely knew who you were!"

At that the nutcracker laughed as if Miku had told a joke. "Maybe they do, but I still don't know them! I was pretty surprised myself the first time they chased me up the Christmas tree…"

He thumped one of his wooden fists into the other, making a loud clacking noise. "AH! I meant to thank you for that! You were the one who threw the shoe, right?!"

Miku nodded her head. "I didn't know what was going on, but that rotten Len person looked like he was going to hurt you…"

The nutcracker bore a wide smile on his face, and Miku was surprised he was capable of such strong expressions now. Whatever happened to bring him to life seemed to have given him some control over his mouth, even though he still had the wooden nose and painted on cheeks.

"Well, because you did that, I was able to climb out of sight and hide and then go back to your bedroom… but… you got hurt, didn't you?"

Miku touched her arm, where the bandages still lay wrapped over her injury. "It doesn't hurt so much now…" she said, "I just tripped into a cabinet."

The nutcrackers face fell. "It seems you keep getting hurt because of me… and after you were so kind too…"

Miku recalled the odd incident in the snow-coated yard. "Ummm… did you really understand everything I said? You only spoke that one time…"

He closed his eyes… or rather, the paint that formed his eyes shrank into that appearance, like two thin black curved lines. He clearly had no eye lids to maneuver. "It was kind of weird, it was like… I was asleep for a really long time and then… I woke up? Yea… and you were talking to me! But I couldn't really move or anything…"

His eyes opened, shining like stars. "And you were really nice to me! So I tried to tell you that! Then… I think I fell back asleep after that nut broke my jaw…"

Miku blushed – her nutcracker had really been aware of all of that? "I'm sorry I didn't stop Mikuo from hurting you… I hope it didn't hurt when Gakupo fixed you up."

Again his eyes became like thin black lines. "I think I remember him… well, his voice at least. He kept talking to me, he was really nice… ah, he kept calling me something though. 'Kaito' I think."

All at once Miku realized she'd been having a long conversation with a person who had saved her life and she was treating him like a mere toy – not even addressing him properly. "Gakupo probably named you that when he created you!" Miku said, "Kaito must be your name!"

The nutcracker looked surprised. "I have a name? He named a doll?"

Miku couldn't help but laugh at his curious face. "Gakupo is definitely the sort of person to name a doll! You should have heard him talk about that castle he built for me!"

"Kaito…" he murmured, a smile spreading along his face as he said it, "My name is Kaito…"

"It's very nice to meet you, Kaito," Miku said.

But as the topic of Kaito's name resolved, Miku realized she still had no real plan of action. She didn't even know where she was, and Kaito might be utterly useless here as well given how little he seemed to grasp of what was happening around him.

"Where are we, anyway?" she asked, "I mean, it's okay if you don't know but…"

"The Land of Dolls and Sweets," Kaito said matter-of-factly.

At once Miku began to recall the story Gakupo had started to tell her about the castle in her room… hadn't he used the same name? "The Land of Dolls and Sweets?" That got her thinking. If that name was real, perhaps her castle might exist somehow as well…

"Kaito, you know where we are, even though you just woke up?" Miku asked again.

He nodded his little wooden head. "I don't think I've always been asleep... I think I've been awake a long time ago too. I don't remember it too well, but I do remember that… this is definitely where we are."

Finally, something to go off of. "Kaito, do you remember that big castle in my room? The toy castle you climbed up before?"

Another affirmative head bob. "Do you remember seeing a castle that looked that? A real castle?"

Kaito put his hands to his head, his eyes turning back to thin lines again as he seemed to be in deep concentration. "I… I think so… we might not be all that far from it, actually… it's deep in the kingdom though. It might take us a long time to get there…"

As his eyes "opened" again, he looked to Miku in confusion. "You want to go there?"

Miku nodded her head enthusiastically. "Gakupo was telling me about this place… the mice aren't welcome there. We may not know how to fix the spell they put on me that's keeping me so small, but we may be able to safely go there."

And she recalled one more detail that gave her hope…

"Gakupo said there's a toymaker in the castle, Drosselmeyer. He may know how to lift curses – he and his nephew lifted one on a princess before."

Well technically Miku hadn't heard the whole story to know if that last part was true, but it was all she had to work with right now. Besides, even if the story wasn't true… if the kingdom really was a place where mice couldn't chase her, then perhaps they could use the relatively safety from them to work out a new plan.

"Drosselmeyer…" Kaito murmured, "That kind of sounds familiar…"

She shivered a moment when she finally realized she'd left her house and fled for her life in the snow… clad only in her nightgown. She needed to get some warmer clothes, somehow… and real shoes…

"If you think it'll work Miku, then I'll take you there," Kaito said happily.

* * *

The journey out of the woods was largely uneventful, to Miku's relief. Fortunately, in spite of her improper attire, the cold didn't feel too intense. And whenever she felt her mood start to flag, Kaito's unbelievably cheerful attitude kept her spirits high.

 _"It's all up to you to decide! I am just a knight! The reckless you knows no fear!"_

'What a lovely singing voice,' Miku thought to herself as she let the song carry her worries away. Kaito was an awfully strange person, not just because he was a walking talking nutcracker doll. For someone who just "woke up", there was a lot he did seem to understand without explanation. For example, he seemed to understand a _lot_ about this strange world they were wandering through. Even why it was morning here when it was the dead of night in her home – according to Kaito, time here simply "moved differently". The concept made little sense to her now even if to Kaito it was incredibly simple, but she'd just have to accept it the same way she could accept having been transported to another world through a mouse hole.

Even more bizarre though, even though the mice had threatened to kill Kaito, he never seemed remotely scared for his safety.

 _"It's all up to you to decide! I am just a knight! If you trip and fall, I will grab your hand… I am a knight in training!"_

Far in the distance Miku could spy a village, and even further out a very familiar silhouette – like that of her toy castle. Now she had even more questions in her head – why did Gakupo know what this castle would look like? How did he know about the Land of Dolls and Sweets?

Was she _sure_ she wasn't just dreaming and about to awaken?

 _"We have gone quite a long way, let's stay closer together! Should we head home now?"_

Maybe Kaito was a soldier in this place once, and he was singing a marching tune. Regardless, it was still kind of cute to hear him singing like this. She blushed as she remembered how she sang to him in the garden… just holding a toy in her lap, when in reality, that "toy" was alive and remembered her. 'That's kind of embarrassing now that I think of it…' she thought to herself.

 _"It's all up to you to decide! I am just a knight! Even if you fall, I'll catch you! I'm a knight in training, I am YOUR knight!"_

Kaito stopped marching forward and began pointing to the village in sight of the pair. "We can probably stop there for a little bit… you've been shaking this whole time, you might need to see a doctor!"

Miku attempted to waive away his concerns. "Kaito, I've just been shivering… it's cold, right? But I'll be okay…"

Kaito walked over to her, examining her closely with those painted eyes. "What does that mean? First water came out of your eyes, now you shake when it gets cold?"

With him so close, Miku decided to test something she had been dying to know about her strange new friend. She touched his cheek lightly with her hand. "Kaito, can you feel that?"

He reached up and touched his cheek. "Um… no?"

So his wooden body possessed no nerve endings. That made sense – he could wander endlessly in the cold if he so wanted. "It's because you're not human. I… I can't quite explain it, but our bodies are different. We…"

A twig snapped and Kaito suddenly yanked Miku close to his body. "Who's there?!"

At once Miku realized the entire time they'd been talking, they'd been unaware of being followed – several grey, scraggly mice surrounded them. She didn't have any weapons or tricks – they were merely standing in the snow, unarmed.

"Queen Rin was right! You left through the forest! She'll reward us with endless cheesecake when we bring you two back!"

Miku had never remembered mice appearing so dangerous before but right now she was quite having her fill of all rodents. "Leave Miku alone!" Kaito shouted, "She's done nothing to you!"

The mice closed in further, wielding swords and spears in their clawed hands. "She tried to kill King Len! That cannot stand!"

Fine, if they were going to talk… "I only attacked him because he was going to hurt Kaito! What has Kaito done to any of you?!"

"This ugly nutcracker stood in the way of the Mouse Royalty's revenge! He's not finished receiving his punishment! Him or Drosselmeyer!"

And at that moment, the mice charged forward, Kaito tossing Miku behind him. She watched him swing one of his wooden fists at the first mouse to cross him, knocking it out of the air with a loud knocking sound from the wooden impact. Utter chaos broke out as Kaito tried to fight so many opponents with just his fists – and to Miku's surprise, he wasn't half bad at it. She took her first opportunity to crawl away from them, not wanting to abandon Kaito but also not wanting to stand in his way.

Then suddenly, as Kaito delivered what Miku thought appeared to be a knockout blow… the mouse seemed to explode into black mist, fading away into the night air. And a sword clattered to the ground nearby.

Kaito took advantage of the sudden breakdown in their advance to attack another mouse soldier nearby, grabbing the discarded sword and impaling the creature upon the blade, creating another black cloud as it exploded into nothing. "You're not that strong at all!" he said with a triumphant laugh.

One by one Kaito managed to break through the ranks of the mice. This only seemed to pick up his momentum, as Kaito ran another mouse through without hesitation. This was _not_ the action of a man bumbling with weapons. Though Miku knew nothing of sword fighting, she could still detect that he had been well trained long ago.

She heard a hissing behind her and she screamed as she felt claws wrap around her ankles, roughly dragging her to the ground. "KAITO!" she shouted, grasping around as she was tugged through the snow by one more foe.

Kaito charged after them and Miku found herself pressed hard against her attacker's body, a sword to her throat. It's tight grip tightened around her injured arm, making her cry out as pain shot through her body. "The nutcracker won't allow his pretty human to die, will he?!"

Kaito stood staring down the mouse soldier holding Miku's life in its hands. "Drop your weapon! Or I'll deliver the girl's head chopped from her pretty neck!"

She could actually feel the beast's rotten breath along her neck. "Okay… I'll drop my weapon… I won't fight…"

"NO! Kaito, he's just waiting for backup, you can't – "

"That's enough out of you, human!"

The mouse roughly jabbed its elbow into Miku's ribs and she coughed from the impact. Kaito was going to give up so readily, how could he?! Did he not understand he still had an advantage?! Yet before her eyes he dropped his sword into the snow. "There… now please, let her go…"

Miku's mind raced for some solution – she would not let the mice do what they pleased with either of them. She was going to go home, somehow! If only she had another toy or…

… she didn't need a toy.

"CAT! There's a cat!" Miku shouted at the top of her lungs, "It must have followed us from my room!"

At that the mouse began to panic. "Where?!" it screeched in fear, "Foul beast, where is it!"

She felt the mouse's grip slip and the sword waver… Miku bit its wrist with all her might, trying to ignore the disgusting taste in her mouth as it screeched in pain… as the sword slipped, she grabbed hold of it and pushed the blade through…

… and the mouse exploded into black mist.

For a few moments she just stood there, holding her weapon out as a soft wind rustled her long hair. "I… I just…. Killed it…"

She felt a wooden hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Kaito and tried to maintain her composure again, but a few tears slipped from her eyes. Again he touched her face, watching the tears pool along a wooden finger that felt nothing.

"I'm sorry, Miku."

She couldn't keep crying like this, no matter how frightening everything was… she had to be strong. She touched Kaito's hand, whether he could feel it or not. "Please don't apologize. You were admirably brave."

"But you got hurt…"

She shook her head, trying her best to smile for Kaito. "I still beat him though. We're safe. You killed all the rest of them by yourself, most of them with your bare hands! I've never seen someone so strong before!"

He lowered his hand, staring at the dampness a few moments, before smiling himself. "You were really brave too, you know! Tricking him and taking his sword?! That was so amazing!"

Miku stared at the weapon in her hands. "I guess… I'll hang onto this. We may need it again."

She didn't want to wield it again, but the monsters turning to smoke and mist did make it feel somehow less violent. "Ha… if only Mikuo had seen me do that… he'd be so jealous…"

Kaito walked away from Miku and started to bury the remaining weapons in the snow. "We need to hide these so they don't find us so quick… the people in the village should help us out though, they're dolls like me."

Even as Kaito seemed to have a smile, Miku thought she detected something off about his movements. He wasn't nearly as excited as he was before. Was it just the sudden shock of the ambush or…

"Kaito, are you certain you only just awoke?"

He finished blanketing the discarded weapons with snow. "I guess I must have done something before I woke up… maybe I've been alive before and I upset the mice then."

He turned to Miku and tried to smile more confidently. "But that's good too. If I was awake before, that means maybe people here know me. Hey, maybe Kaito isn't even really my name! Maybe it's Fritz or Franz or Hans or…"

Miku turned her head to the castle. "Maybe that Drosselmeyer person we're looking for is _really_ the one who built you. It sounds like we're definitely in the right to seek him out."

Kaito seemed so much more hopeful. "Right, and if I'm an enemy of the mice, maybe that means I was a soldier or something for the King and Queen of the Land of Dolls and Sweets! Maybe they'll treat me like a hero!"

Even with Kaito's permanently rosy cheeks from the paint, it was hard not to imagine him properly blushing.

"All right… we'll go down to the village… find out the fastest way to the castle without running into the mice… and… and…"

He stared long and hard at Miku to the point she was getting uncomfortable.

"Help you stop shivering!"

* * *

 **A/N:**

Hello Kaito, it's nice having dialog for an unusually peppy version of you.

And now we get to my first major divergence from the source material – Gakupo having a backstory! I wanted to slip in a GakuLuka plotline into this story, but I didn't want it to distract from Miku and Kaito meeting and becoming closer. I also had a rather elaborate backstory in mind for Gakupo, and I wanted an elegant way to get it in there. I finally had the idea of including short flashbacks at the start of each chapter and that allows me to have Gakupo have his own storyline without it taking away from the main storyline.

And Luka returns as a faerie again… I never entirely planned on her being a faerie in two fairy tales in a row, but she is portraying a rather famous fairy so I relented.

Another major divergence from the source material – Marie/Clara doesn't actually leave her own world until after the Mouse King is already dead. In the ballet in fact he dies the first night in front of the Christmas Tree! In the novel she just gives the nutcracker a toy sword during the day and the next night he shows up holding seven mouse heads with crowns on them (what a charmer.) Yep, the entire conflict is resolved in her own home and the journey to the Land of Dolls and Sweets is entirely a victory lap. I've noticed most other adaptations stretch out the battle against the mice to take place in the magical world, and I've done the same because it's a lot more interesting to have Miku lost in a strange world.

Oh, and since I don't expect my readership to have an exhaustive knowledge of common 19th century painkillers… "laudanum" is a mixture of morphine and codeine that was used in _many_ medicines around the time period. It's generally known as "Opium Tincture" today. Don't worry, this isn't going to be a story where Miku becomes an opium addict XD

Kaito's idea of names for himself are from either the original novel or other adaptations of it. "Fritz" is the name of Marie's brother. "Franz" is the name of the Nutcracker in the 1979 stop-motion film "Nutcracker Fantasy" by Sanrio, which actually saw an updated re-release in 2014. "Hans" is the true name of the Nutcracker in the 1990 Warner Bros. animated adaptation "The Nutcracker Prince."

 **Song Credits:** Gakupo sang "A Doll's Voice" by Len and Minudo (Chinese producers) and Kaito sang "Knight in Training" by Eccentric-P. Yes, I finally found a perky Kaito song for him to sing. Perky Gakupo songs are an even greater rarity – which is so sad, he's actually all kinds of adorable in peppy songs! Luka is singing "DYE" by AVTechNO!, a song I never thought I'd get a chance to use given that the Engrish makes no sense… but then I had an idea that the faerie Luka might sing it and the nonsense lyrics are just the result of it being a song originating from a supernatural being. Plus the Project Diva video features her in an environment of snow and ice and using her Eternal White module, so I even got to make it a callback within the story itself.


	3. Chapter 3: The Village of Bonbon

**Chapter 3: The Village of Bonbon**

 _As she approached the old wooden building, she heard the familiar welcoming sounds of progress. The sound of many gears ticking and turning, powering the machinery woven within._

 _Upon the door hung a simple sign – "Drosselmeyer, Toymaker and Inventor."_

 _She pressed open the door and at once an exuberant singing voice reached her ears._

 _"I've come from the distant past to deliver a smile to this age. Come, become heady with this magical singing voice!"_

 _That voice had played in her mind a thousand times as she walked the stars and scried at the heavens. It was not normally the place of one of her kind to descend so frequently, let alone for a single mortal. She'd been warned of the risks. But this particular mortal possessed some unusual quality that tempted her to continually depart her astral home for one short meeting after another._

 _"Everyone gets hurt at one point, although they wish for happiness… Today you are living again in search of a true smile!"_

 _To her left stood a wall of clockwork dolls, starting from the simplest of toys and scaling up in size and complexity. He was never happy when he finished one toy – he was already thinking of his next creation. A thirst for knowledge and craft that she'd never seen, certainly not in any of the others from The World Beyond. Was it_ _ **that**_ _which compelled her interest? The idea of someone making an impact with such machinery and workmanship?_

 _"There are nights when tears overflow, there are days when you lose sight of yourself… At those times, come here, I'll sing for you!"_

 _But she'd seen such machinery, turned for evil. She'd seen it in The World Beyond. Those were men who sought to control the world with their clockwork marvels. A mere work ethic never captured her attention before._

 _Yet this man wore a smile on his face as he strove for ever greater and more joyful creations, every part of his being animated by his endless quest. A clockwork cat marched across the workshop, chasing a toy mouse. A train track weaved its way along the walls above their heads, and even the train cars were filled with smiling clockwork people._

 _"I've come from the distant past to deliver a smile to this world. Come, we'll hold hands and become one!"_

 _Finally she found the toymaker himself, the man who fashioned himself "Drosselmeyer." A false name, but to him it was a sign of his new persona after she plucked him from the snow and brought him here. His purple hair, tied in a luxurious ponytail, hung down his back over his long purple coat as he tightened the screws on a gigantic toy soldier, dressed in a white shirt, blue sash, and black pants._

 _"Now, I thought you only built machines for peace, toymaker."_

 _He turned to face her with a radiant smile upon his face. "Ah, Sugar Plum! I was hoping you'd come calling today."_

 _Of course he'd gone and given_ _ **her**_ _a name as well. From any other mortal, such an informal name might have sounded condescending. Yet in his soft tones, it only seemed to convey the joy he felt every time he saw her._

 _He patted his new invention's shoulder with a white gloved hand. "This fellow here is harmless. I'm not building him to fight… I received a request from the Marzipan Court themselves! They were looking for something to spice up their Christmas Parade."_

 _Hence the soldier's uniform – an infantryman. "Once I know he can march in the formations I want, I'm looking to see if he can play some instruments! I'd like to have enough ready to build a nice little marching band!"_

 _The soldier's face remained yet unformed, a mess of gears and a cage-like casing._

 _"But this dear fellow isn't why I hoped you'd come calling…"_

 _She quirked an eyebrow as the toymaker walked across his shop to his workbench. He pried open the drawer, then turned to her with a sly look. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands."_

 _"You're giving a fairy commands?" she asked sternly._

 _He laughed. "It's just… it's a surprise."_

 _Against her better judgement, she closed her eyes. She heard his footsteps approach and the familiar sound of a key being wound. She felt him press a small metal object into her gloved hands, hearing the constant tick-tock of a small clockwork mechanism._

 _"Take a look."_

 _She opened her eyes. There sat the strangest thing she'd seen him make yet – a small, heart-shaped toy. The casing was crafted of from a golden color, light decorative patterns etched into its surface. A small window in the center providing a glimpse at its ever-turning clockwork gears._

 _"What a curious offering you give me."_

 _He seemed a little disappointed. "That makes it sound so impersonal…" he coughed, "I… ah, well, I still want you to have it. So when you're up in those lonely heavens, with only the stars to keep you company, you can still remember there's someone down here thinking of you. I even modified it using the stardust you brought so… it won't stop ticking now that its wound."_

 _She placed the clockwork heart within her white coat. Her_ _ **own**_ _heart was beating peculiarly fast. Was she getting sick?_

 _"Thank you… 'Drosselmeyer.' I shall keep it close."_

* * *

Miku felt the aching in her arm return – it hadn't been so difficult when she and Kaito were simply walking around, but once she'd used it in a fight, the bruised skin seemed to burn like fire. Unlike her mother, Miku knew little of medical treatment, so she refused to take the bandage off and check lest she not be able to wrap it a second time.

This she concealed from Kaito – though his happy mood had returned, she'd already learned that he felt himself responsible for all her current woes. But Miku couldn't help but feel sorry for him – he seemed so kind and innocent, she couldn't imagine someone so brave and selfless having committed some horrible act against the mice to deserve such unrelenting and cruel vengeance.

And given _her_ current predicament, unable to return to her friends and family… she already knew what these creatures were capable of when upset for even a moment.

'I never would have thought of mice being so cruel…' she thought to herself, 'I knew I should have had a _real_ cat.'

It wasn't long before the most peculiar town Miku had ever laid eyes on was within walking distance. It was as though someone had built an entire village out of toys – wild colors, rounded pillars, and thick blocks. She couldn't help but be charmed by it as she approached and saw some of the people out and about. Every one of them appeared as artificial as Kaito, though some of varying shapes and types – yarn hair and button eyes, visible and colorful stitching, ball joints articulating with their steps. Every material she could think of – wood, metal, fabric, porcelain it was all there.

"I guess I can see why it's 'The Land of Dolls and Sweets…" Miku observed as she studied the patterns on the buildings mirrored those of candy, "Kaito, those houses aren't REALLY made of candy, are they?"

Kaito laughed at the idea. "Of course not! It's just normal paint! The candy would fall apart in the first snow. But there ARE plenty of places where you can get candy for decorating your house…"

She saw a sign hanging over a wooden gate that read "Bonbon Village", the font bubbled out like every letter was a piece of chocolate. Being surrounded by the image of food made Miku's stomach growl – she'd lost track of how long she'd been wandering with Kaito. 'Ah… by now my mother must be frantic… she would have woken me for breakfast by now.'

She tried to banish the negative thought. She'd get this problem solved and then head straight home. Though she was certain not a soul would believe her when she returned.

But as Miku walked along the powdered streets (which she was _fairly_ certain was just powdered with snow), she began to notice the dolls behaving oddly around her… and shooting Kaito some very strange looks.

Not that he noticed, his smile broader than ever. "There's so many nice places here… you said to stop shivering you just need a jacket, right? Maybe someone will give us one!"

"Ah… Kaito, that's not how that normally works…" Miku said with a blush. Sure this was a strange world, but many of the buildings were clearly shops… and Miku realized she had no money to use in this odd world.

"Oh yea… I don't have any Chokodil coins on me right now… well, I'm sure we'll come up with something!" He shouted optimistically, "Maybe I can do some odd jobs or something…"

Miku tugged her nightgown tighter around her. It was a wonder she hadn't frozen to death in this garment yet – thank goodness it was so thick. And to think she'd insisted her mother was over worried to purchase such a thick and multi-layered piece of sleepwear.

Finally the strange looks began to get to Miku just enough that she leaned in closer to Kaito. "Kaito, is it just me or are there no other humans here?"

Kaito started to laugh again, enough to make Miku self-conscious over knowing so little. "Of course not, this is a doll village! Humans live much closer to the city!"

 _That_ didn't sound pleasant. "Are you telling me that… humans and dolls don't like each other?"

Kaito started to knock one of his wooden fingers on his head. "W…well, I just remember that dolls are supposed to live apart from the humans unless they're working for them. Like, as hard labor or for soldiers. The kingdom takes care of them though, they're always compensated!"

'He's awfully charitable to a group of people that would have him nowhere near them!' Miku thought to herself.

That's when she started to realize a problem with their current plan of action. "Wait, does that mean we might not be able to get into the castle together!?"

Kaito ran a hand along his chin. "Ummm… maybe? Oh! We could send word to Drosselmeyer and he'd help us out! Ah, or because I might have been a soldier, there's probably barracks or something I'd be using! S-so I'm sure it will still work!"

As Kaito kept trying to devise a new plan on the spot, Miku watched a toy bird fly through the air – the clockwork mechanism visible. Yet she was impressed the toy could still become airborne – surely all those parts would make it too heavy? It's flight pattern made her recall a goldfinch. 'So even the animals can be toys too… that makes sense…'

Around that moment, Miku's stomach let out another low empty growl. "AH! Miku, why are you growling like that?!"

The girl's face turned beet red with embarrassment. "I'm just… hungry… Kaito…."

She began to look around for any sign of food. Did dolls even need to eat, magic or not?

That's when she saw it – a little blonde boy running through the streets in hot pursuit of the clockwork bird.

A _human_ boy, in a navy blue sailor's coat, long black pants, and a little white cap bouncing around with his every frantic movement.

"James, come back! James!"

He began to hop as he stared up at a tall, snow covered tree. "Ah… not again…" he muttered, "And Papa's not going to be back for an hour."

Before Miku could say anything, Kaito was at the boys' side in a flash. "What happened?" he asked with a helpful smile.

The boy crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks. "James hasn't been working right since the toymaker left… he keeps flying up the trees where I can't get to him. Only Papa's tall enough to reach him!"

Kaito stood up to his full height – as a nutcracker, he was a rather tall toy himself. "How about I climb up there and grab him? Will he fly away?"

The boy shook his head. "I don't think so…"

"Then I'll get him in a jiffy!" Kaito volunteered. He clambered up the trunk, looking quite ridiculous all splayed out amongst the branches. Miku couldn't imagine this was easy – even though she knew his limbs had ball joints instead of being perfectly rigid, he still clearly had trouble being as nimble as a human with his body made out of such an inflexible material as wood. Yet in a few moments, Kaito was able to grasp the toy bird with his wooden fingers, though it appeared to take him several tries to properly close his hands around it.

He hopped out of the tree looking almost as happy to be helpful as the child was to get his friend back. "Thank you sir!" he said, "Are you one of the king's men!?"

"Ahhh… well…"

"Yes!" Miku lied, "He's my escort back to the Marzipan Court. But those wretched mice took our coin purse. You wouldn't happen to know someone who could help us out would you?"

The boy kept a tight hand around his toy bird. "I could ask Mama… she's the sweet shop owner, Sweet Ann. She knows everyone here."

He nodded his head with a polite smile. "I'm Oliver! It's nice to meet another nice human!"

* * *

As the three of them walked the few blocks to Oliver's home, Miku again noticed the eyes of the town's residents darting around Kaito. More and more she was beginning to notice something else – they seemed rather apprehensive around him.

Something he seemed to be finally comprehending as more than a few polite greetings and broad smiles were met only with a cold stare. Eventually he gave up entirely, just staying close to Oliver and not even speaking until they made it to their destination.

Above the door hung a wooden sign, reading "Sweet Ann's Fine Candies," with every letter painted to appear as if it had stitching on it. Sure enough, when they entered Miku spied a fancy blonde rag doll wearing a fluffy white dress, the distinctive marks of tight stitching running along her neck and arms. "Mama, I'm home! This kind nutcracker helped me find James!"

"Oh Ollie! Sir, I'll thank you for the help, I…"

At that the doll's sewn-one eyes seemed to widen, like a changing patch of fabric. "You're… you…"

The woman seemed to motion for Oliver to get closer to her. Obediently the boy did as he was told, but the confusion was plain on his face. "How many people saw you come here?" she asked flatly.

"Um… we didn't hide…" Kaito said with confusion of his own.

Finally it was Miku who broke through the wall of division. "Miss, everyone in this village has been staring at me and Kaito like criminals. Something happened to Kaito to make him lose his memories, so we don't know what's going on. Is it because he's wanted by the Mouse King and Queen?"

"The Mice?!" the woman exclaimed, "No, no, it's because the Marzipan army has been running all over the kingdom searching for a blue-haired nutcracker, though they've refused to say why! Everyone in Bonbon's been gossiping over what a doll could have done to have so many people after him!"

 _That_ seemed to set Kaito off. "But I thought I lived there! I was built by Drosselmeyer, wasn't I? And then I became a soldier?"

At that, Sweet Ann's face grew sympathetic. "Oh, you poor dear… we haven't heard from Drosselmeyer in a very long time. You're certain you don't recall anything?"

Kaito shook his wooden head quickly. At that the doll seemed to change her opinion of the situation entirely. "All right… you two go in the cellar for a few minutes… no doubt by now the crown has been informed, but… I know how to cover for you. Oliver, can you show them the way?"

Oliver smiled and bounced as he led Kaito and Miku through the lovely shop racks filled with candy treats. Soon they were led downstairs where massive vats of melted sugary syrup and chocolate bubbled. The lovely scent only further tantalized Miku's empty stomach.

"I'll shut the cellar door… I'm sure Mama will take care of all the scary people… and if she can't, Papa should be able to handle them!"

The little boy laughed, patting his toy bird resting lightly on his shoulder. "You must be kind, James wouldn't have let a bad person play with him."

And soon Oliver was crawling back up the ladder to the shop upstairs, leaving Kaito and Miku to nothing but the sound of candy vats. "I hope we didn't walk into a trap…" she murmured.

"What?!" Kaito said, "Impossible! She told us she would help us!"

So he was apparently rather naïve as well. "Kaito, we don't know anyone here. There's a good chance they locked us down here to give us up to the crown… we really shouldn't…"

The nutcracker shook his head. "Impossible! Dolls don't lie, we're not able to! Not like humans can! We ALWAYS tell the truth!"

"Oh… I'm… I'm sorry…"

Now Miku thought she'd offended him, but that smile spread back on his face. Apparently any slight she'd made was instantly forgiven. "Don't worry, if Sweet Ann said she'd help us out, she's going to! And she's a very nice doll!"

Miku tried to calm her gears… perhaps Kaito was right, she knew nothing about how these doll people really behaved. He did. Even if there was still so much he seemed completely oblivious to. She took a seat at a small table. Kaito ended up following her, scooting a chair out and sitting at his full height right near her.

"Kaito, you're certain you don't know why even the Crown is after you?"

"Ahhhh… nope. I can't think of anything I did… oh, I hope that poor Drosselmeyer is okay."

He leaned his head on his hand. "The more we talk about him, the more I'm certain he was someone important to me."

Miku folded her own hands close. "Well, if he's been missing… there's one of two options… the Kingdom took him prisoner and we'll have to try and get in there to free him… or he escaped and went on the run himself…"

Kaito tapped his wooden fingers along the table, sounding more like a woodblock instrument than a person. "Then we have to figure out where he went, while still avoiding the mice…"

The tapping on the table began to resemble a simple rhythm. "You sure like music, Kaito," Miku said.

He looked at her happily. "I love it! No matter what I do, I love to sing all the way! Marching or working, or even just reading… it always make me feel so alive to have a melody flowing through me…"

His painted blue eyes looked straight into hers. "You like to do that too, right? Your voice was so pretty!"

Miku's face flushed – so he _had_ heard her impromptu "performance." "Well, I do… my godfather always sings when he's in his toyshop, so I sort of picked up the habit… eventually my mother paid for vocal lessons, but she had to stop when the money became too tight. Which is fine, honestly…"

Her expression grew gruffer. "I know she just wanted me to get better to make it easier to find a husband…"

Kaito seemed utterly oblivious to how uncomfortable he was making her, but before he could ask any more embarrassing questions, they heard the sounds of new voices upstairs and fell silent. Miku prepared to hide at a moment's notice, or at least to hide Kaito – nobody seemed to be looking for her, after all.

But after a few tense moments, they heard the sound of the shop door closing. After a few more minutes, the cellar door opened and down climbed Sweet Ann herself, carrying an armful of fresh breads, cookies, and pastries. "Well, that was quick! I thought I saw a soldier come in looking for you, but she was all by herself… she did ask if I'd seen a nutcracker, but Oliver told her you'd already left town. He's such a good boy."

Ann laid the food down along the table Miku and Kaito were sitting at. "So, you two… you're not running away from home are you?"

One of her patched eyes formed a stitched wink. "Parents that don't approve?"

Though Miku coughed, Kaito seemed utterly oblivious to any innuendo from the rag doll. "We're just trying to find Drosselmeyer…" Kaito said, "My friend Miku here has been cursed by the Mouse King and Queen and we think he might be able to help her."

Sweet Ann looked alarmed. "You two are running around making such powerful enemies?! And to think you're in MY little candy shop. Oh, my husband is going to find this all so hilarious…"

She made a gesture to Miku. "Come now, eat that food I brought you. I saw that hungry look in your eyes, and I know what kind of foods humans can eat. I'll have you know even the highest houses in Marzipan have dined on my sweets!"

Miku's stomach felt so empty that even a meal made entirely of sugary confections was appetizing. She tried to eat as politely as possible no matter how badly she just wanted to wolf it all down right then and there. As she ate, Kaito started to fill in the gaps on their journey to this point for the benefit of their hostess.

As for the hostess herself, Miku rapidly lost her distrust of her – unlike the other dolls that seemed scared of Kaito (or at least of the crown), she was treating him like an equal and trying to give him some friendly advice. Once Miku had finished her meal, the topic of fresh clothes came up. "AH! You mean that's not a normal human dress?!" Sweet Ann exclaimed.

"Ah… well, no… it's just… my nightgown…" Miku mumbled. She realized she shouldn't be surprised a doll wouldn't know much of that – their clothing was more ornamental than practical.

Much like the candy, apparently. She'd made a fool of herself offering some to Kaito, but he'd started laughing like she was joking again. When he realized he was serious, he apologized profusely and told her that dolls had no need for food.

Sweet Ann's shop instead provided candy that would be shipped to the humans of Marzipan. Thus it wasn't entirely impossible for a human to come to Bonbon, but only on business. As for the dolls themselves, in spite of not being able to _eat_ candy, they often loved to decorate their homes with it, and thus a truly creative candy crafter could make quite a living selling candy to both races alike. Now Miku understood why Ann's treats were so colorful and eye-catching.

"Well, I don't know whether or not you still want to try and get into the kingdom to find Drosselmeyer…" Sweet Ann said, "But whatever you choose, I'll try to make sure to send you off with some warm clothes and some food for Miss Miku here!"

Oliver came crawling down the ladder a second time, looking panicked. "Mama, Mama! There's more soldiers here this time! You need to talk to them!"

At that her stitched face registered panic. "Ah! Okay, I'll talk to them but… Oliver, can you handle getting the two of them to safety?!"

Oliver gave a small salute. "I'm ready!"

Ann bowed her head in penance. "Please, come back when they're gone and I'll give the supplies I promised!"

Sweet Ann climbed up the cellar ladder one last time, shutting the door tight behind her. "If they ask her where we are… she'll have to answer honestly, won't she?" Miku said.

"Yea, but she can answer honestly as long as she doesn't know where you are!" Oliver said, grabbing Miku's hand eagerly, "Come on, I'll take you through the basement exit…

Oliver began to wind the two through rows upon rows of candy vats. Miku kept checking Kaito but his face revealed little of his mood. Frankly, his silence seemed to speak more loudly for him – was he already feeling guilty for them having to flee another safe place? She would have to find some way to let him know he was still helping…

Just feeling the little boy's warm hand in hers gave Miku a small amount of comfort – she'd been worried this entire journey would be nothing but mice and dolls.

They approached what appeared to be a blank wall with a large lollipop hanging off of it. Oliver leapt up and tugged the stick. Slowly the wall began to retract, revealing a stone storage room. "Why would you have something like this in your house?!" Miku exclaimed.

"Papa came up with it," Oliver explained, "We kept having trouble with the mice getting in here and stealing the candy… they were really good at picking locks and stuff. So Papa came up with this idea to hide the candy shipments in here… with a secret exit too!"

He gestured excitedly to Miku and Kaito, like he was sharing his own private clubhouse with them. The panel quietly slid shut, just as Miku heard multiple people descending the cellar ladder, led by Sweet Ann. "Don't worry, Mama's really smart!" Oliver continued, "It'll be okay!"

* * *

True to Oliver's promise, Miku and Kaito found themselves heading out of a stairwell similarly covered by wood, though this mechanism was simply controlled by a hollow rock. Walking back outside from the stairs, Miku realized they'd been led near the edge of town. "Okay, I need to get back in there quickly or they'll wonder why Mom's all alone… you two just need to head under the trees a little ways… there's an old trunk, you can't miss it… and past the old trunk you'll find… my favorite hiding spot! Mom doesn't know about it, so she can't lead them to you!"

"I hope it's sheltered…" Miku muttered, the sudden sting of cold air through her night clothes starting to get to her.

"Don't worry Miku, I'm sure Oliver isn't misleading us," Kaito said, his cheer seeming to finally return to him.

As the two of them wandered back into the forest, both Kaito and Miku had their eyes close to the ground looking for any signs of the mice. The second Oliver said they were known to steal supplies from the people of this village, Miku knew to suspect they could be anywhere. She kept her sword close, though she still didn't really know how to fight with it. She'd figure it out eventually, she was certain… or maybe just hopeful.

Kaito drew Miku close to his side, his expression having grown more serious. "I'll protect you from them," he said quietly, "You won't have to get hurt again."

She wanted to respond when he jumped up, dragging her forward with excitement. "The old trunk, right where Oliver said it would be!"

Their footsteps quickened as they forged ahead on the trail, and before they moved too deep into the trees, Miku spied a small wooden shack nestled between some old stumps. "Ha, I guess Oliver _did_ lead us to his clubhouse," Miku said with a small laugh.

As Kaito approached the door, preparing to open it, he stopped moving entirely as he seemed to notice something amiss. He slowly pulled the door ajar and peeked inside, Miku trying to follow him and get a look for herself…

… and spied a young woman in a lovely red uniform coat and shirt, with white pants, glimmering yellow buttons and epaulets, white boots, and a long white cape with a red interior. Her bobbed brown hair swished around as she turned and glowered as she spied the intruders.

"Who goes there?!" she barked out.

"We should ask the same of you!" Miku said as she pushed her way inside, "This is a child's club house! There shouldn't be anyone in here!"

The girl scoffed at her, her brown eyes narrowing. "I should say the same of you… both of you! Come out, you, you… ruffians!"

The girl tugged out her sword and held it steady in front of her. "It's not proper to sneak up on a lady like this! The both of you should be ashamed of your rudeness and… and…"

As Kaito entered, holding his hands up in surrender, the girl's pomposity vanished entirely. "Oh my god… it's you… I finally found you…"

Miku rushed up in front of Kaito. "You must be that officer that was looking for Kaito!" she said, "I won't let you take him away and lock him up!"

With Kaito in the room, the girl's entire personality seemed changed. "You're unhurt… I'm so grateful…" she said, choking up.

Miku glanced up only to see Kaito appeared as confused as ever. "Ummm… did we know each other before?" he asked, "I don't believe we've met but… I have to admit, ever since I fell asleep and woke up again, I seem to be forgetting a lot of important things."

Miku tried to watch the girl's face – at once her expression fell. "You… you really don't remember? About the mice, and the castle… about Drosselmeyer and… and… the princess…"

"Ah! Drosselmeyer!" Finally Kaito seemed to lower his hands as he broke into a smile, "I was trying to find him, I think he knows how to help my friend Miku here!"

He bowed his head in apology. "If we knew each other before and I forgot… I must apologize. What was your name!? Maybe I'll remember that! I mean, I was in the military, so maybe we worked together!"

For a moment the woman looked away, clutching her sword ever more nervously. Finally she turned back to Kaito and the nervousness fled her body. "Hmph. Since you seem to have _forgotten_ , my name is Meiko. Kaito, I was attempting to locate you, as a commanding officer."

"To arrest him!?" Miku said accusatorially.

Meiko faced flushed scarlet. "Of course not! How dare you accuse me of trying to arrest an innocent man!"

Kaito's face only brightened further. "Oh, that's such a relief, I was worried I'd committed a crime and forgotten about it! So now that you're here, you can clear things up for me in front of the Marzipan Court and we can get Drosselmeyer out too!"

Miku had never seen such an utterly unprofessional officer as Meiko seemed to sputter in front of Kaito's innocent conversation. "Kaito… that's not going to work. Your crime… well, you were not to blame, but you're being held responsible. Because of the mice, you see."

Kaito nodded his head. "I see, I see… so that sort of explains why the mice are after me too."

He stared straight at Meiko with those painted on eyes of his. "Now tell me, is Drosselmeyer in the Marzipan Kingdom?"

Another shake of her head. "The toymaker fled at the same time you did. The castle kept that a secret – he's not officially a wanted man because they're afraid the dolls might revolt if they know he's to be arrested on sight. He's always been well-respected by them, especially for a human."

Kaito appeared relieved. "That's good… then he's safe… Miku, I guess we won't get to see the Marzipan Castle after all."

She laughed lightly. "It's fine, I have a copy in my bedroom at home after all…"

Miku tried to press Meiko for more details. "Listen, since you apparently used to know Kaito, you should be able to tell him what happened, right? He really doesn't remember why he's being chased around by all these people!"

Another mood swing hit her as Meiko's fingers curled nervously around the hilt of her sword. "He… he stood up against the Mouse King and Queen… but he failed. I… well, I don't know what he did, but I guess because he _failed_ , the King wants to punish him for it."

'Dolls may not lie…' Miku thought to herself, 'But humans most certainly do."

Meiko's story just wasn't adding up in so many ways. She didn't want to accuse the only person Kaito knew of having an ulterior motive, but it was hard not to when she had so many bizarre behaviors. Miku was about to interrogate her harder when the door to the shack exploded open.

"He's in here! The nutcracker is in here!"

Another giant scraggly mouse leapt into the room, swinging its spear and growling as it ran straight for Kaito. In a flash he had his sword out to cut the beast down, black smoke filling the room as his blade pierced its chest.

"AH! Let go of me, rodent!"

Miku watched as a mouse reached into the shack and dragged Meiko out through the window. "Meiko!" Kaito yelled, "We have to help her!"

But that was proving most difficult – the mice began to swarm inside through the windows and the door. Miku tried her best to fight as she'd seen Kaito do so, but her lack of experience showed as she found herself backed into a corner and waving her sword like a toy. "Such wonderful luck, we find the Nutcracker, we find Queen Rin's prize pet, we even find King Len's assassin!"

Miku didn't think she'd get away with her cat trick a second time.

She didn't have to.

A loud crack sounded as an entire wave of mice went flying into the air. A huge, broad shouldered man seemed to fill the entire frame of the doorway. "So! You rodents decided to trespass in my son's shack, did you?!"

As he grew further into view, Miku saw this man was no normal human either – he was himself a wooden doll, towering over even Kaito as he swung a long thick block of lumber at the mice trying to trap Miku. With his brown hair tinged with white streaks, shiny gold-painted eyes, and wild painted grin, he looked downright menacing as he surveyed the chaotic combat before he charged at the mice again.

Black smoke wafted through the room as the man tore through the mice with no sign of mercy. "Oh, I've been waiting to get a crack at you lot since you took my wife's entire sugar cookie stash! Do you know how much trouble she went to for those!?"

CRACK!

With their sudden savior holding off the majority of the mice, Miku gestured to Kaito and the two escaped out the door. "We have to find Meiko, she can't be far!" Kaito shouted.

Sure enough, they could hear her struggling and shouting at her captors. Miku tried to keep up with Kaito's pace, her lungs aching from breathing so hard as she pushed herself to run faster. She hadn't even gotten a proper night's sleep, and now she was running to try and rescue a rude stranger?!

Soon the snow grew thicker around their feet, making the tracks of the mice more obvious. "That way! We have to help her!"

Kaito pointed and Miku obediently followed. Finally they'd found them – three scraggly mice, two clutching Meiko's arms and trying with all their might to keep her restrained. "Such a loud mouth on this one! So noisy, no wonder Queen Rin hates her so much!"

Meiko kicked around in the snow. "You rodents better HOPE you don't take me to her or I'll… I'll make her pay for what she did to– "

"MEIKO!"

Miku tried to stop Kaito from giving away his position, but he charged blindly forward into the snow. "AH! Ugly nutcracker is back again! Get her away, quickly–"

Just the distraction of Kaito's appearance finally gave Meiko the opening she seemed to need. She stomped on the large clawed feet of her mouse captors. As their screams filled the air, she broke away from them, running behind Kaito as he engaged the leading mouse himself.

The nutcracker shouted as he engaged his blade against the mouse's spear. To Miku's surprise, the more experienced officer was crawling through the snow to get close to her. "Do you need my sword, ma'am?" Miku asked innocently.

Meiko looked to the fight and shuddered. "I… Kaito seems to be handling this okay."

'Is it normal for a soldier to just abandon a charge!?' Miku thought to herself.

With a large puff of smoke, Kaito had defeated the lead mouse solider… but the remaining soldiers had escaped, leaving nothing but footsteps behind. Kaito turned to Miku and Meiko and bowed. "I'm glad you're both okay," he said politely, as if he had _not_ just spent the last several minutes killing sentient mice in front of them.

Meiko seemed to be… trembling? 'Maybe something about the mice really frightened her…' Miku thought.

"OY! You lot all right out there!?"

Miku saw a familiar clockwork bird flapping through the air. On instinct she held out her hands and it alighted on her finger, its metallic eyes blinking at her. "Well, it's good to see you again, James…" she said.

Not far behind James was Oliver and the giant of a man that had come stomping into the little shack and saved their lives. His glimmering gold eyes darted across the snow field. "Did you get the last of them?"

"Yes, sir!" Kaito said with a proper salute, "I'm sorry we left you behind, but the mice had kidnapped my friend Meiko here!"

Meiko took a deep breath and stood at her full height, banishing all of her nervous energy. "Yes, I owe Kaito my life," she said, "Whatever quarrel those beasts have with me, this doll made them suffer for it!"

The big man laughed loudly. "Well, from my experience, mice are obsessed with sweet and pretty things, and you definitely look like one!"

At that Meiko's face turned almost as red as her jacket. Oliver approached Miku, holding his hand out for James. She returned the toy bird, still enamored of how lifelike it appeared for just being made of gears and bolts. "Miss, did you fight too!? How many mice did you kill?!"

Now she felt embarrassed herself. "W-well, I did manage to kill one or two of them, but…"

"The mice swarmed the cabin so fast we didn't have time to react," Kaito said, "Frankly, if this man hadn't shown up…"

At that Oliver let out a shout of disappointment. "I missed Papa fighting the mice?! Ahhh, why didn't I get out of the house faster?!"

The large man turned his head to Kaito, his painted mouth a wide, friendly smile… painted teeth and all. "Big Al, carpenter, lumberjack… and occasional mouse squasher."

Miku expected him to extend his wooden hand in greeting, but he remained rigid. At first it seemed rude when Miku remember the lack of feeling. 'Right… they probably don't shake hands or hug if they can't feel the other person… I guess dolls don't touch… except…'

She pressed her finger to her cheek, where Kaito had twice held his finger under her eyes to feel her crying… even though he couldn't feel anything…

"AH! Papa, Miku's shivering over here… we need to get her back to the house so she can warm up!"

Meiko glanced over at Miku and for the first time seemed to be aware of her odd choice of attire. "Miss, is it really appropriate for a lady of _any_ stature to be outside in her nightgown?"

Now it was Miku's turn for her face to turn red as she watched Meiko smirk at her.

* * *

"And then I broke the door down, I was so angry… swinging the boards around like big clubs!"

Big Al swung his arms around as he mimed out the fight in front of the rapt attention of his wife and son. "They just started exploding in these clouds of smoke! Swing, POOF! Crack, POOF!"

"Oh, Al, it all sounds so exciting… I never envisioned you as a big tough fighter!" Sweet Ann laughed, "Maybe we should have you be a bodyguard!"

"What, and give up my carpentry!? And your sweet shop!?"

Kaito, and Miku meanwhile huddled together to try and plan their next move. Reluctantly, Miku had allowed Meiko to join them – for better or worse, they needed an extra hand. More cynically, Miku wasn't sure she'd be able to get rid of her given her stubborn insistence on sticking close to Kaito. "So, we probably still need Drosselmeyer's help to break my curse," Miku murmured.

"I can attest to his success in breaking one of their curses before," Meiko said firmly, "I had hoped Kaito might know more of his location though. You two were quite close."

"Well he _did_ build me!" Kaito said, his bright smile already returning.

Meiko coughed. "Ah… yes, that he did."

"Now I'm convinced that whatever happened that made you 'fall asleep' is part of all this," Miku said, "Kaito, do you think you could be under a curse too?"

His astonished face suggested to Miku that the thought hadn't even crossed the nutcracker's mind. "Do you think they made me fall asleep and forget everything!? Those dastardly beasts!"

"The Mouse Twins… are very cruel to the people who upset them…" Meiko said, clutching her hands close.

"Ah, Meiko, they didn't hurt you too did they?!" Kaito said.

She shrank back, clutching her sides tighter. "I… well… such matters are trivial at this point in time."

Miku couldn't sort out what this strange woman's motives were. At one moment she'd be prim and proper as if she was better than everyone around her, but whenever the mice came up, she would lose her composure at once.

Kaito thumped his wooden chest, making a loud clacking sound. "Don't worry, I'll keep you and Miku safe from them!"

Miku could have laughed at the nutcracker's enthusiasm. Even Meiko cracked a small smile. "Such a bold promise from you! I like your style, Sir Nutcracker!"

Big Al hovered over Kaito's head, a wide painted grin reaching both sides of his face. "I like a doll that knows when to take action!"

At that moment, Oliver's "pet" bird flapped its way on top of Big Al's head. "Ah! James, come down, I can't reach that high!" he said, nervously jumping on his heels.

Big Al scooped the bird off his head with one hand. "Ah, too bad there isn't really another toymaker to show him to…" Sweet Ann lamented, "With Drosselmeyer gone, we may have to keep James in a cage until he works properly again."

Oliver looked utterly stunned. "No! James can't go in a cage, he's supposed to be FREE!"

As the boy took his bird back, he held it close and hopped up the stairs. "So, have you lot decided your next great adventure?" Sweet Ann asked. With a wink, she added "Don't worry, the soldiers should be well off your trail now!"

All eyes turned to Kaito. He seemed to be struggling to come up with an answer. "All my memories of Drosselmeyer are foggy… I don't even recall what he looked like but…"

He looked up with an embarrassed look. "Maybe since you all knew him before, you could tell me more about him and I'll start to remember him… then we'll have an idea of how to find him!"

"Kaito, Drosselmeyer had long purple hair that he kept tied back with a black ribbon… and he always wore that old purple overcoat."

Meiko tilted her head as her held a hand to her chin in thought. "Frankly, given what the king was paying him, I never understood why he couldn't replace it with something more befitting his high station!"

On just hearing the description alone, Miku nearly choked. 'No! That can't be!'

"Ah, we always knew he was in town when we'd hear him singing… he had the loveliest voice!" Sweet Ann said with a whimsical sigh.

"He always told ridiculous jokes too!" Big Al added, "He'd be so convincing that sometimes you wouldn't even realize if he was pranking you until he started laughing! He was clever."

Oliver bounced on his heels. "He loved bringing new toys for the children too! That's how I got James – he knew I loved birds, so he built me my very own!"

Miku froze up. 'If I didn't know better… they're talking about Gakupo!' she thought, 'But… that's impossible!'

She clutched her hands close to her chest as she tried to grapple with what she knew. When would Gakupo have been able to come to a magical world like this one? He was a toymaker of course, but for _humans_.

But he always took those long trips in which he'd spin the most fantastical yarns about his travels…

"Did he… did he tell stories a lot? Utterly ridiculous fantasy stories?"

Miku felt silly even saying it…

Meiko's laughter filled the room. "Oh, all the time! Whenever he'd take off for a while, he'd always say he went somewhere wild! Oh, one time he tried to get me to believe he'd gone to a city of fog and smoke! Where everything was grey and brown and the only candy was in the shops!"

Miku gulped. "Did he ever talk about… his time as a soldier?" she added.

Now even Kaito seemed shocked. "Miku, you're talking as if you know him too!" he said in surprise.

'No! If Gakupo IS this Drosselmeyer person then… then he doesn't know where I am! He'll still be in town and I can't get back there now to tell him!'

All of a sudden Miku felt trapped in her current state… never going home… and never seeing anyone she loved again.

'Oh godfather, why didn't you tell me anything? Why didn't you say anything?'

Kaito jumped to his feet, grabbing at his head. "AHHHHH! I think I remember something now! Something he was trying to tell me!"

Miku tried to hold back her tears. "Yes, Kaito?" she said hopefully.

Kaito's "closed eyes" looked like two tightly wound lines from how much effort he was trying to put into this memory. "He said… he said if we were ever to get separated… to go… to go… back… back to the old workshop! So he could find me! And it was right near… this huge pink lake!"

Meiko gasped. "My goodness, I think I know where that is!" she said, "He's talking about the Rose Lake! Oh, that's out in Sugarloaf Valley… that must be where Drosselmeyer used to live before he came to the Marzipan Court!"

Kaito's eyes opened, shining with pride at having pulled out such an important memory. "Thanks to all of you talking about him, it just felt so normal remembering him talking to me…" the nutcracker said, "I guess I was very important to him, even though I'm just a toy."

Sweet Ann let out a whistle. "That's at least a few days from here on foot…" she said, "Still… my husband and I can see what we can do to get you some faster transport when you leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Miku said in surprise.

"Oh yes!" Sweet Ann said with a laugh, "It's dark out and freezing cold! Even a doll would lock up in a block of ice in such wretched temperatures! Especially… a young lady in her nightgown!"

Miku found herself laughing instead of crying. Maybe this toymaker wasn't her godfather… maybe it was a coincidence but…

Maybe they had somewhere safe to go after all.

Maybe she wasn't trapped.

And maybe… "Drosselmeyer" would have a _lot_ to answer for when she finally met him.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Meiko has joined the party! *trumpet fanfare*

So speaking of our rather forceful brunette, I actually kept waffling on her personality. At first I was obsessed with trying not to portray her too harshly, out of concern that I might scratch at the ever present KaiMiku vs KaiMei shipping wars. In the end though, I realized I'd ended up writing a Meiko that had no personality at all, and Meiko is a character that I feel ALWAYS has a lot of it. So I stopped chaining myself to worries about other's expectations and gave her the personality her character needs. I'd think that by now you guys know me well enough that she's got a little more depth than "rude woman antagonizing Miku."

I never actually expected to give "Big Sweet" and Oliver a return appearance, but frankly when I got to writing about a village full of dolls, it seemed insane for me not to include two people known for being stitched together like toys anyway and then toss in Oliver for good measure. They're obviously far tamer than they were in Broken Wings as well and Oliver gets to be a normal boy now.

The original novel does in fact feature a "Bonbonville". I've tried to reuse location names from the novel as well – the Land of Dolls and Sweets is well detailed in the book. But I wanted to be a little more creative as to how sweets appeared and what a doll would actually do with, say, a lollipop. Sure I can handwave things away as "MAGIIIIIC" but I do prefer to have some logical reasoning process.

I feel the need to elaborate a little more on the setting. While I chucked out the date 1816, that was based on the publishing date of the original novel. I've been deliberately vague about the exact location of the events in Miku's world – a lot of the social attitudes and certain institutions are derived from Victorian England, while I have tried to get some of the influences of the original German setting in there in things like naming. I was still stuck on the Industrial Revolution, but it turns out Germany didn't industrialize until the 1870s at least! So I guess "industrialized 19th century European fantasy AU" is the best description for it. None of this really matters all that much in the grand scheme of things, but if you read Broken Wings, you know I like to dig deep into these settings anyway.

 **Song Credits** : You know, Gakupo really does make it hard to search for happy songs. He does a lot of covers, but most of his originals are hard rock and depressing. But gosh darnit, I did turn one up, "Magic of Happiness" by Naoki-P!


	4. Chapter 4: The Snowfield

**Chapter 4: The Snowfield**

 _He held his head in his hands as he slumped over the familiar wooden table of his childhood home, still trying to absorb the tragic events he'd been party to._

 _His sister had passed on before his very eyes._

 _The last time he'd seen her she was a young girl, just barely keeping the house afloat but swearing it would stay in shape so her brother could come home from the war with his soldier's pay and care for them both again._

 _Just a day ago was their first – and last – reunion. He guessed she must have been a lovely young woman before the consumption withered her away, her brown hair cascading around her emaciated body. How surprised she'd looked to see her beloved brother, to the contrary, had aged not one day since the day of their separation._

 _So obsessed had he become with his life in what could only be described as a fairy tale that he'd neglected to ensure something very important._

 _That time in both worlds_ _ **flowed identically.**_

 _How had he begun to recall her? He'd been in his workshop and found himself starting to construct life-size clockwork replicas of people… it wasn't until he'd painted the last face on the last doll that he realized he'd constructed replicas of his parents and sister. To him, it had only been a year or two settling in and starting his business._

 _Outside, it had been so much longer._

 _The faerie had appeared so apologetic… she'd been certain he had nothing to return to, so she'd never told him. He'd become so immersed in his new life he'd never wanted to speak of his humble past. And so he'd let himself drift away from his past… she explained to him that the length of time and his rudderless existence made it difficult to send him back to the correct time, but she'd try and get him as close as she could._

 _As he'd learned to his horror, he'd missed years of the world he'd once been part of. And all that time, his dear sister had waited patiently… gotten married, had a son, lost her husband, and now…_

 _At first all he'd done upon reaching her bedside was stumble over his apologies as he'd clutched her hand close. And all she wanted to know was – had he been happy?_

 _She smiled as he tried to tell her of his new profession, of the wonderful world he'd found… he began to promise to take her…_

 _… and her face froze, a doll's empty gaze remaining as the life flowed out of her. With shaking fingers, he pressed her eyelids closed for the last time._

 _After the fact, he'd stumbled through notifying the proper authorities of her passing. There was little estate to manage – his family had never had much in the way of means. There was just one loose end…_

 _"Uncle, you must eat something. Mother wouldn't want you to starve."_

 _A warm bowl of porridge sat in front of him. He looked up at the sapphire eyes of the blue haired young boy next to him. "Come now… I assure you I didn't burn it."_

 _He was still just a child… Even if he insisted was " a grown up 9 year old!" on meeting his uncle for the first time._

 _And yet for a boy who'd lost everything, it was almost eerie the way he smiled and never once cried over his great loss._

 _The boy sat down with his own food. The toymaker made his best effort to eat in spite of the rock knotted into his stomach. "I heard you telling Mother you were like… an inventor… a clockworker… oh, and you make toys. That's so amazing!"_

 _It didn't feel so amazing now._

 _"Ah, what I'd give to see them… is your workshop close by?"_

 _"Hmmmm…" he found himself saying, "It's in… it's…"_

 _His disaffected nature began to leave him as remembered he was talking to a child. A child that was dearly missing the same person he was._

 _He felt his flair for storytelling rise up and a genuine smile spread across his face. "It's in a most enchanting place. The snow is made of powdered sugar, and when it gets wet it turns to syrup!"_

 _The boy's eyes widened. "Did you ever get stuck to it?!" he said, his smile growing, "How would you wash it out of your hair?!"_

 _"Oh, they make a most marvelous hair tonic that even chewing gum wouldn't stick to! And outside my bedroom window, every night I see a magnificent pink lake in which the most beautiful swans swim all year round!"_

 _"The lake doesn't FREEZE?!"_

 _He couldn't stop the story now that he had this child's full attention. "Oh no, because the secret of the Rose Lake is that it's made of the most pure red juice, always perfectly warm even when the snow's out!"_

 _"What kind of toys do you make!? Did you bring any!?"_

 _A sad shake of the toymaker's head. "Not now… I was in too much of a hurry… but I've built train sets that encompass entire towns… little ballerinas that dance for days… and even clockwork helpers that can help me carry materials into my home and cook my breakfast before I have to turn the key again!"_

 _The boy now seemed entirely uninterested in his own porridge. "Uncle, Uncle! You MUST take me there! I want to see it, the lake and trains and the ballerinas and –"_

 _A loud knock on the front door interrupted the both of them from their lovely conversation. The toymaker rose and opened it at once. Outside stood a dour woman in a steel grey gown, behind her some rather burly looking men._

 _"Oh, we didn't know anyone else lived here," she said, "We were informed yesterday of a destitute youth whose family has passed on."_

 _"His_ _ **mother**_ _is passed, but I am his_ _ **uncle**_ _," the toymaker said sternly._

 _"An uncle?"_

 _She squinted at the toymaker behind her glasses. "This is the first I've heard of it. Are you planning to take on his care?"_

 _For a second he hesitated… then he looked back into his nephew's eyes. This was the first time he'd seen the boy show fear. "We've already made arrangements for a workhouse to send him off to. We can't have him becoming delinquent, after all. He can become a productive citizen."_

 _A workhouse… all his life his father and mother had fought to keep their children out of one of those wretched places… to think they were so desperate for more bodies that they'd come swooping in so suddenly at even the prospect of one more young soul to throw into the unflinching machine…_

 _"Those arrangements are unnecessary," the toymaker said gruffly, "As a matter of fact, I own a manufacturing firm of my own, and a boy his age would do well to apprentice there. I'll be taking him back within the week in fact."_

 _His courage grew. "I don't suppose the city intends to prevent me from taking my only nephew home with me?"_

 _The woman started to shrink back. "No… no, that will be fine. As long as he isn't running about picking pockets and starting fights, you can do whatever you want with him. We'll… notify the council the situation has been resolved at once."_

 _The toymaker gruffly slammed the door in her face, glad to be rid of them. He looked into his nephew's eyes…_

 _…. The glowing smile on his new apprentice's face was the first sight to bring him joy all day._

* * *

Miku lay on her back in the guest bed staring long and hard at the ceiling above her. In spite of the darkness of night outside, in spite of her looking out upon the stars, in spite of being _in her bed clothes_ , she found herself incapable of falling asleep.

Hours had already passed in this darkness. Meiko was fast asleep on a soft couch. The little family had already gone to sleep – to Miku's surprise, even the dolls needed sleep even if they could sleep on solid wooden beds. As it was, Kaito had simply chosen to sleep on the floor. He cared little for fine arrangements, and as he'd insisted, he didn't need a mattress or blankets since he couldn't get cold or uncomfortable anyway.

She found herself watching the unfamiliar sky. None of the constellations she knew to look for were present. Stretching across the sky were several golden strips of light, like ribbons of stars through the heavens. She's have to remember to ask Kaito or Meiko what they meant. She started trying to count the glowing lights, hoping her mind would finally drift off in the wake of some mental work.

Nothing.

She heard a familiar clicking sound in the rafters and looked above to see Oliver's toy bird flittering from beam to beam. "James… being naughty again…" Miku whispered.

The bird flitted out through a slit beneath her door. Finally Miku could stand the silence no longer and she crawled out of bed to chase the bird. She tiptoed along the floor trying to be as quiet as possible.

That's when she finally noticed someone else was awake.

James settled atop Kaito's tall hat, taking the nutcracker by surprise. "Ah, James, that's not nice… Oliver will be looking everywhere for you!" he scolded quietly as he grabbed the bird gently in his wooden hands.

Kaito turned and saw Miku, his painted eyes growing largerin surprise. "Ah! I didn't wake you up, did I?!"

She shook her head. "I can't sleep… at all…"

Now her nutcracker appeared worried for her. "It's not the curse is it?"

'ACK! I hadn't even considered it…'

"M…maybe…" she stammered. "What about you?"

Kaito smiled and shrugged. "Nope. I probably slept too much before!"

He examined the toy bird in his hands for a few moments. "Hey… let me take a look at him…" Miku said, "I know… a little bit… about toys."

Obediently Kaito handed over the bird and the two walked down the stairs towards Big Al's tool bench as Miku began to search for something to gently pry open the bird's casing and examine the inner workings. She hadn't want to tell Oliver this, but she'd been dying to tear open his "pet" and find out how such a creature functioned.

Fortunately, Big Al did seem to own a few finer tools – some of the wood crafting lying around the workshop included precise etchings and finer carving work. Ironic for such a loud and boisterous man to appreciate work that took quiet patience.

Miku grabbed at a flathead screwdriver and gently pried at an opening in the casing around the bird's tummy. Soon it snapped off, exposing an intricate network of gears… and a few odd pieces she'd never seen before. Even so…

"This is just the way that Gakupo makes his toys…" she murmured.

"Gakupo? Oh, the man you thought built me…" Kaito said, "You know, come to think of it, if Drosselmeyer built me, how did I get to your godfather's house anyway?"

Miku tried to use every technique Gakupo had taught her to work backwards through the solution of what might be malfunctioning in this toy. She knew how the gears should work together, but the odd little nodes… they seemed to practically glow. Were they magical somehow?

"Kaito, I have to say, there's a lot I don't know about Gakupo… and the way you were all describing this 'Drosselmeyer' person, he sounds a LOT like him. Maybe they're related… except this Drosselmeyer had a nephew and Gakupo doesn't _seem_ to have any other family aside from us."

But Gakupo _did_ build a toymaker that resembled himself in a castle that _clearly_ resembled the one in this magical world. 'So maybe he _had_ a nephew before… and something happened to him so he doesn't like to talk about it.'

Kaito watched Miku quietly as she worked at the toy. "Um… Miku… I have a question…"

She didn't look up from the job. "Yes?"

"…am I really an ugly doll?"

 _Now_ she looked up from the bird again. "What?!"

Kaito's face was getting harder to read. "The mice keep calling me that…" he said, "That I'm an ugly little nutcracker. Does everyone else think that way?"

He started to walk away from Miku, turning his body from her as he seemed to be examining his appearance in a piece of reflective glass. "I mean… there's nothing wrong with you!" Miku exclaimed.

But even as she said it, she knew that wasn't what Kaito needed to hear. Why would he take the opinions of _mice_ so seriously anyway? "Honestly, you look a lot nicer than most nutcrackers. You don't have one of those horrifying grins or the weird teeth… or the beards…"

"So… I'm not that ugly for a nutcracker?"

'Augh! I have to salvage this!'

"No! I just meant, you're a very handsome doll, Kaito. You have that nice wooden smile and soft hair… your uniform is prim and neat… and your red cheeks always make you look happier."

As he turned his face back to her, Miku thought she noticed something _else_ unusual about Kaito, just for a second… then she simply saw his doll's face, with his painted features, little wooden nose, and the well-defined mouth large enough to crack nuts inside.

She smiled for him. "Besides, do you think those creepy mice know the first thing about beauty?" she joked, "I doubt they even bathe! At least you're _clean._ "

Kaito began to laugh. "Well I do have a nice layer of varnish, so it's not hard to stay clean!"

'There… he's smiling again…'

More and more Miku began to notice that regardless of Kaito's normally happy demeanor, he did seem to lose himself in his thoughts when left alone with them. And yet again she found herself wondering what had happened to make him "fall asleep".

But… seeing him smiling again… she didn't want to break that. Something about Kaito being so happy and cheerful all the time no matter how much danger they faced made her want to stay strong too even though she was still frightened of her predicament.

She finally spotted something ajar in James' casing – one of the odd glowing nodes seemed to have slipped out of its proper place. "AH! Maybe this is what did it!"

Miku reached for a tiny pair of tweezers and nudged the little pebble-shaped object back into its proper place, then screwed the tiny little bar back over it with expert precision. Snapping the bird's casing back together again, she held James in her hands, hoping she hadn't hurt him.

To the contrary, the bird took flight through the house… Miku quietly began to follow his flight path, just as she saw the bird slip back into Oliver's cracked open door.

"Wow Miku… you're really good at this!" Kaito said, beaming from cheek to cheek.

… for the first time, someone besides her godfather was complimenting her technical skills instead of discouraging them. "Thank you, Kaito."

* * *

Sweet Ann threw open a large wardrobe. "Now, I don't know how well any of these will fit a human, but you're welcome to anything you need!"

Miku peered into the wardrobe, wondering if all of the clothes would look more like doll's dresses. Still, she seemed to have some luck with finding some clothes closer to her world's sensibilities. She spied a lovely sky blue coat with a white fur trim and navy blue bow, matching it to an ankle length navy blue skirt. She grabbed for a long-sleeved white shirt and pulled out some navy gloves and white, fur-lined boots. 'There… that should give me a little more modesty…' she thought, blushing at a _far_ shorter skirt that would have cut off midway down her thighs. Miku wasn't at home, but she wasn't comfortable dressing quite so scandalously…

"Oh, how lovely! It brings out your hair!" Sweet Ann cooed as she sat on her white bed. "Here, just go change behind the divider, I won't look! Oh, and I think I know the perfect accessories!"

Miku was about to stop her from looking for anything like that. Yet the rag doll had such a broad smile as she leapt from her bed and ruffled through her vanity, Miku just didn't have the heart to stop her. As Miku walked behind the wooden divider and slipped off her nightgown, the doll woman added "By the by, you've no idea how grateful I am to you for fixing James for Oliver. He loves it so, but clockwork mechanics are well beyond Al and I…"

Now a question that had bothered Miku almost from the start nagged at her and now seemed the best time to ask.

"How did you come to adopt Oliver?"

For a few moments, all Miku heard was silence, to the point that she was concerned she'd asked a rude question. "I suppose everyone finds it strange for dolls to care for a human child…" the ragdoll finally said.

"We found Oliver when my dear husband still practiced carpentry closer to the city… just wandering around without anyone to look after him. At first we thought maybe he was the son of some official but… the more we spoke to him, the more we wondered if he came from the World Beyond…"

"The World Beyond?" Miku asked. That was an odd turn of phrase.

"Oh! It's where you seem to have come from!" Sweet Ann said, her voice growing ever more cheerful, "Every now and then we see humans from there… we don't know how they get in. Either they get lost or the faeries find them… some of them have done quite well here though!"

As Miku slipped into the skirt, the sky blue hem settled just above her ankles. It certainly felt thicker than her nightgown. 'I'm not the first…' Miku thought to herself, 'Good. Then there must be a way for Gakupo to get here and find me.'

"Anyway, Oliver took a liking to the two of us and we couldn't well let such a nice young lad spend his life in an orphanage! So… my husband moved his carpentry business here to Bonbon and I opened up this sweet candy shop!"

Miku tugged the sweater over her head, pulling her long hair through. "Some of the humans definitely didn't approve of dolls raising a little boy. The dolls think we're crazy, but they don't interfere with us. Anyway, I'd trade all the finest spun sugar in the Candyfloss Mountains for even one more day with my sweet Ollie!"

All Miku could think of was how brave Ann and Al were to uproot their entire lives just for their son. It was no small task to throw away a family business like that. So many sacrifices they'd made… as much as her mother could get on her nerves, Miku had to admit with a stab of guilt that the matriarch of the Hatsune household had gone through more than enough trouble on her own trying to keep the three of them together, surviving on just the inheritance her grandfather had left behind and whatever Gakupo was sending her.

In that moment, Miku vowed that she would do anything to return home – for as much as her mother's controlling nature could upset her, she could already imagine how losing her only daughter forever would devastate her. Even Mikuo would be frantic by now… how she found herself missing his bossiness and pranks.

Sweet Ann began to hum to herself as Miku stepped out from behind the divider. "Ah, it looks pretty on you!" she said, running over and fussing at the coat.

Miku curtsied politely. "Hey, you don't have any hair ribbons, do you?" she said.

Like a shot, Sweet Ann pulled out a blue ribbon with a white jewel and slipped it around her head. She looked so proud of herself. "Ah, I'm kind of jealous! You wear that better than I did!"

She slipped another pair of white ribbons into Miku's hand for her to form her pigtails again. 'I'm starting to think Sweet Ann should own a dress shop instead of a candy shop…' Miku thought to herself.

* * *

"AH! You're really okay with just lending us this?!"

Big Al proudly patted the large wooden sleigh as Kaito excitedly danced around it. "Well of course, the three of you can't just _walk_ to Drosselmeyer's workshop!"

Miku had to hold back her laughter as she watched Kaito trying to pet the horse rigged up to the sleigh. 'I'm surprised it's a real horse… I would have been sure it would be a toy of some sort…'

The horse snorted in the poor nutcracker's face… only making him start laughing even harder. "Sorry I upset you, Mr. Horse!"

"Besides, all the dolls love Drosselmeyer…" Sweet Ann said, "We're all worried about him. It's the least we can do to make sure he gets back safe."

Kaito was practically vibrating with joy, so much that Miku half expected to hear some of his wooden parts clacking around from his excitement. "Can I drive the sleigh!? I'll be real careful!"

Before she could say anything, he'd already started to climb up into the driver's seat. Meiko rushed forward and grasped his leg. He didn't seem to notice her touch, but as she spoke he seemed to finally notice her presence.

"Kaito… it's not your place to handle live animals!" she scolded, "You should sit in the sleigh, with Miku."

He looked so disappointed…

"Yea, Kaito! If you sit with me, you'll be ready in case we're attacked by mice!" Miku said, thrusting out her mitten-covered fists, "I know I'll feel a lot safer sitting next to you!"

 _That_ cheered him up.

"You're right! Okay, Meiko, you drive, and I'll protect the sleigh!"

He clambered over the front of the sleigh into the back. As Meiko followed into the driver's seat, she tossed a relieved wink at Miku. 'I guess he's had trouble with horses before,' Miku thought to herself with a chuckle.

Miku began to leave for the sleigh as well when suddenly Oliver rushed forward and gave her a big hug around her waist. "Thanks for fixing James! Thank you so much! I'm thanking you because he can't talk!"

Miku leaned down and gave the small child a hug as well. Just feeling human arms around her gave her that familiar comfort of contact again. "You take good care of him. Don't worry, we'll save the toymaker and James will get regular checkups, all right?"

For just a moment, Miku wondered if this warm feeling of making a child happy was what gave Gakupo so much passion for his craft.

* * *

As the sleigh glided through the fresh snow, Miku and Kaito stayed alert, watching all around them. They'd been set upon by mice so many times already, they couldn't afford relaxation. With Meiko's steady hand on the reigns, they could focus only on the snow around them. For the moment, Kaito even seemed to tense to try singing a sleigh song.

But as they traversed the Candied Plains, nothing appeared amiss. Early on, Meiko had stopped to alert them to several sets of tracks – some of them clearly belonged to mice, but many of them were more humanoid. "The army's been through here," she had muttered, "We need to stay away from them… they'll take care of the mice, but they won't exactly help _us_ either."

The tracks never entirely faded, though Meiko tried to stay just far enough away to hopefully not draw any attention from a straggler.

Eventually just watching for an attack that never came began to wear at Miku – unlike her companions, she wasn't a soldier. She had to try and break up the monotony somehow. "Ah, Kaito, have you started to remember anything else? Before you 'fell asleep'?"

Kaito continued to watch the snow, though he did seem to perk up at being the center of attention again. "It's kind of a mess right now," he said, "I mean, now I remember more of what Drosselmeyer looked like, and more of what kind of person he was… but the weird part is, I don't remember much of the kind of person I used to be. How I became a soldier or… or even when I was built… the sort of things you'd expect someone to know."

"Meiko, you used to know Kaito, right? You can probably tell him more about where he came from and –"

The brunette curtly cut her off. "I need to focus on the road."

Miku glared at her – did she _always_ have to be this rude with everyone?

"Well hey, Miku, didn't you say you think Drosselmeyer sounded like your godfather? Maybe there's stuff you know that could help jog my memory too!" Kaito said.

Miku scrunched up in the sleigh. "Well Gakupo _did_ know your name, you said you heard it when he fixed you!" she reminded Kaito, "Hey, what about his voice? Did it sound like Drosselmeyer's? Did he tell you anything important?"

Kaito tapped his jawline with his finger. "I was still mostly asleep… not having a working jaw and all… he had a really kind voice, though. He apologized for not being able to help me."

At that she winced – had Mikuo known the toy he'd so carelessly broken was alive, he'd probably feel guilty. Miku's mind drifted back to the conversation she'd had with Sweet Ann, where she spoke of the World Beyond.

"Is it common for people to come _here_ from the place I did?"

At that, her nutcracker shrugged. "I think you're the first one I've met. Though if they're all kind and smart like you, they must all be wonderful people too."

Kaito said that statement with such sincerity that Miku thought her cheeks might have turned as red as his own painted ones were. "Miku, can you tell me more about your godfather? Just in case."

Kaito sounded so hopeful, how could she let him down? "Gakupo… he's brilliant, really. When I was a child his toys seemed like they moved with magic… I was too young to understand how all the little parts worked together."

Thoughts of happy times surfaced as she recalled so many wonderful days. "Every time he came to visit, it was always so happy… he loved trying out new toys on me and my brother. And he'd tell these… outlandish stories about them!"

She leaned back wistfully. "Ah, when my father was still alive, my parents would just get caught up in it with them… sometimes I think they were trying to see who could outdo each other in the more magical tale. But… after my father died… I stopped believing in magic…"

Not that such an event could ever stop her godfather from finding a way to keep her happy. "Gakupo seemed to know I didn't believe anymore… so the first toy he gave me after my father died… was a little toy cat. And after he told me this… ridiculous… story about the cat fighting an army of mice by itself… he asked me if I wanted to know how he'd made it. Then he just… slipped open the casing with a screwdriver and pointed to all the gears."

She'd never forget exactly how he spoke of his craft after that. "As I watched all the little turning pieces, at first I was frightened… it was like even my childhood had died. But he pointed to each little piece… and he said the point of a toy is to light our hearts and imaginations. Either by the child who plays with it, or the maker who crafts it. Everything he ever built was a new possibility. He told me to him, that was magic too."

"After that… I kept having him teach me how he did it. I wasn't an apprentice, but he started by bringing me simpler toys and letting me take them apart… I never got as far as building one by myself, but it wasn't all that long ago I used to draw the plans up…"

At that Kaito started to interrupt. "What do you mean, used to? You haven't stopped making toys, have you?"

He could really be so simple… something charming but at the moment something vexing as well. "I… well… my mother wants me to marry into a rich family and be well taken care of. Gakupo isn't in the position to take me on as an apprentice – he's far too busy, always traveling around… so… I kind of… stopped…"

Kaito looked genuinely upset. "But you were so happy! Why would your mother think someone wouldn't marry a pretty, kind, clever girl that makes toys!?"

"Sometimes parents have their own needs that diverge greatly from their children's," Meiko interrupted.

Her voice was so cold it made Miku shiver in place. There was a story _there_ all right, but Miku knew the soldier wouldn't be telling it. "Look, it was… easier, okay?" Miku said, "We've been fighting so often, I didn't want to keep pushing back anymore… besides… maybe it's best for me…"

At that the nutcracker actually let out a "harrumph." "What's best for you is what makes you happy, right?"

At once the conversation was interrupted by a loud explosion. The horse bucked and took off, leaving Miku and Kaito to hang onto the sleigh for dear life as Meiko tried to get them back under control. "What's happening?!" Miku cried out.

"That sounded like a cannonball! The battle is moving this way!" Meiko shouted, "We've got to stay out of the way!"

The previously calm snow field began to fill with dozens upon dozens of doll soldiers, locked in vicious combat with the mice. What they lacked in sheer numbers they had in sheer tenacity and skill. "All the soldiers are… dolls?!" Miku exclaimed.

"The infantrymen usually are!" Kaito exclaimed, "It's almost impossible to kill a doll… so the king usually sends them out first since they're more expendable."

Another series of explosions sounded out as a row of cannons opened up, scattering doll and mouse alike. Miku worriedly scanned the snowfield until…

… she saw _him_ again.

Len. The Mouse King. Barking out orders and taking the field, a holy terror with his sword as he tried to cut through the doll soldiers.

"The Mouse King… he's here…" Miku said.

The sleigh jerked around as Meiko got it back under control, but she looked shaken. "We need to find another path…" she stammered, "Kaito, please… please promise me you remember something…"

Kaito was clutching his head, his eyes screwed shut. "There's…. there's another path _through_ the mountains. Like, in a cave… but… it's dangerous… something about it is dangerous…"

A cannonball exploded near the ground, showering the occupants of the sleigh with snow. The horse was clearly too spooked to take orders anymore and it was all they could do to stay still as the sleigh passed straight into the battlefield…

Trampling mice and dolls under its feet.

"Who dares interrupt our fine battle!?" The Mouse King shouted.

He was looking right at Miku, his pink nose and long whiskers twitching with rage as their eyes locked. He frightened her, this creature that had cursed her to such a bizarre place.

"Ignore the dolls! The Nutcracker and the princess are in that sleigh and I want them more!"

And then they were away, plowing through the trees as the mountain approached… finally crashing near the opening of a great cave. The horse ran off, leaving the scattered occupants of the now-ruined sleigh to stand up.

"Miku… are you hurt?!" Kaito cried out.

Her injured arm was burning with pain – she'd landed right on it. Yet she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain. "I'm fine! Is this the cavern?! Does this go all the way through?"

Kaito stared up and examined it closely. "I think so… no, I KNOW so! I remember this now… but… I also remember it was dangerous somehow…"

Meiko took a few steps closer. "That's because it's full of magic," she said, "Surely even someone like _you_ can detect it?"

Miku tried to focus – she wasn't sure what magic was supposed to feel like but… she started to notice the sensation of pins running along her skin. For just a moment, it made her recall when the Mouse Twins magic passed over her.

Then… it was gone.

Miku jerked her head over her shoulder in fright when she heard a familiar voice. "This way! The sleigh crashed out here! Stop them before they enter the Crystalline Cavern!"

Just hearing Len's voice again made Miku jittery. "We'll have to chance it! We can't let them catch up to us!"

The three fugitives tried to gather what supplies they could from the snow before they ran into the open mouth of the cavern. Whatever danger lay inside, Miku tried to brace herself for it. The darkness began to consume all light… their footsteps pounded on the rocks…

Eventually, they heard no further pursuit. Whatever was in these caves, clearly the Mouse King himself was no more eager to face it than they were.

Finally, everyone seemed to relax and slow their escape. Kaito began to take point, trying to navigate the caverns for everyone. As if matching Len's name for it, Miku saw the rock walls slowly being covered by glowing multi-colored crystals. What little light remained seemed to be emanating from them as they glowed softly. The deeper they ventured, the more the lights chained. Miku stopped running, examining the dancing lights on her skin. "Ah, Kaito, this is so pretty! It's like a rainbow!"

"It must be the magic in the caves... for crystals to glow like this, there must be a source deep within the earth just pumping it out," Meiko whispered in awe.

Even Kaito stopped walking a few moments to admire the spectacle. "I think I'm starting to remember this place a little bit, now…" Kaito said, "I mean, I remember the crystals anyway…"

Miku looked ahead into the many little lights. "Do you remember the way out? It might not be easy with so many reflective surfaces…"

She ran her hand along one of the crystalline walls. She half expected it to be candy given the world she was in, but it just felt like normal, non-sugary rocks. "It's not rock candy, Miku… I uh… already checked…" Kaito said.

Before Miku could ask how a doll could "taste" anything, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Whipping her head around quickly, Miku spied what looked like the silhouette of a young girl. "Kaito, Meiko, did you see that?!"

Kaito was staring straight down the path. "Yea, there's someone there! Hey, come back!"

"Wait, Kaito, don't start calling out to her, it might be the mice!" Meiko scolded, "Have you no concern for how reckless you're being?!"

The girl turned around and started to run deeper into the crystals. "Wait up, please!" Miku shouted, chasing after her, "Do you know the way out!? Do you know where we're going!?"

With Miku in hot pursuit, she tried to keep up with the girl. Was it a lost human? Another doll? Maybe they could help each other…

The girl's pigtails bounced behind her as Miku kept up her chase… and was she laughing?

Miku stopped her chase as she found herself approaching what appeared to be her own reflection in a massive crystal wall…

… when the reflection looked into her eyes with a sickening grin. Whatever Miku was looking at, her eyes were pale white and soulless.

Miku whirled around, looking for Kaito and Meiko… but there was no sign of them. She was entirely alone.

Her "reflection" laughed. "You really aren't that tough on your own, are you?" it said to her.

* * *

Kaito stayed entirely focused on his chase of the boy he'd seen… he didn't think the boy looked _that_ feminine, but maybe in the dim light Miku and Meiko _thought_ they'd seen a girl.

But something about the boy seemed to draw him out of his focus on their single-minded goal. If he followed the boy, he'd understand something important. Maybe some clue that would lead him to his creator, or to break Miku's curse…

When the boy suddenly ran through one of the crystals on his own, Kaito slowly came to a halt, his heavy wooden footsteps trailing off. He walked closer to the crystal, touching its surface…

The boy turned around, his mop of blue hair flopping around his head, putting his own hand up to the other side of the crystal to match Kaito's doll hand.

Kaito was staring straight into the white eyes of a perfect reflection of himself.

Except… this one was _human._

* * *

 **A/N:**

So I forgot to announce it properly last week, but this is a bonus Christmas update! Come back on Friday for the normal release, and maybe get that gaping cliffhanger resolved!

Oh look at me, killing family members again. Poor Kaito, he's practically collecting dead parents out of all these stories. That's also two dead sisters for Gakupo and two dead fathers for Miku. Thank you, Disney, for teaching me the value of fratricide in plot development.

So we got another peek at the villainous Len, but still just a tease really. Something fun about a story like this where the major plot details are pretty well known is that I don't have to worry about whether I kept certain major plot points properly secured. The surprises and conflict come from the new presentation of familiar plots and the new material added on top of it.

For example, there's nothing I love more than screwing with the heads of my cast and especially messing with Kaito.

In case it wasn't obvious, I put Miku in a 19th century version of her 2012 Snow Miku costume.


	5. Chapter 5: The Tale of the Hard Nut

**Chapter 5: The Tale of the Hard Nut**

 _She glided across the stage, twirling gently as her tutu ruffled from her delicate steps. Walking on the tips of her toes in the slippers, she held her arms high, in perfect form, the delicate bells of the celesta accompanying her every move. Her white costume glittered under the lighting, her face projecting utter serenity and peace. Her character was a faerie, yet the mortals idea of how a faerie should appear in a ballet apparently differed from her normal behavior._

 _But no matter – how exciting her life had become posing as an ordinary person! Ever since the toymaker had taken up employment with the Marzipan Court, he'd sought to find a place for her within the kingdom so he could see her more frequently._

 _She'd not needed the help._

 _She'd loved the freedom dancing gave her. In the past she simply contented herself with watching, often sneaking her way into mortal ballet performances and soaking in their graceful beauty. But these days she'd grown tired of being ever the quiet observer. She wanted to take something for herself, just once, even if it was merely a place in a dancing troupe._

 _And so these dances began, her regular performances for the noble court._

 _And every time she performed, there were two people she counted on seeing the most._

 _Not the royal family – though the princess came with regularity, she barely knew them._

 _Nay, it was the toymaker and his nephew, now a handsome young man seeking his own place in the world he'd escaped to._

 _Whenever she performed this song, she imagined herself dancing amongst the stars she called her home. The constellations, fixed in the sky, granted her the ability to divine the future, herself the one that glided amongst them to find the vital clues they left for those who watched._

 _How long had it been since she'd seen those stars? Surely the other faeries could handle it… did they need another?_

 _As her dance concluded, she heard that familiar ring of applause. Her face retained its mask of a ballerina's cheer… yet her careful eye noticed two missing faces._

 _As she walked backstage to change, she gathered her few possessions close to her – her white coat and dress, her boots and cap…_

 _"I hope I'm not interrupting."_

 _She almost jumped as she spied the toymaker in her dressing room, wearing his favorite purple coat. "They don't normally allow those outside the troupe to enter," she said plainly._

 _He smiled gently – though she detected something insincere. "Do you need something?" she pried._

 _He beckoned his head outside._

 _The toymaker's atypical silence upset her enough that she didn't even bother wiping off her stage makeup before changing into her normal clothes. Specks of glitter remained on her cheeks._

 _They left the performance hall, wandering into the colorful streets of the kingdom, teeming with so many mortal lives. Before she'd only occasionally gathered one at a time, as they ventured into her world, trying to grant them safety. Diving into hundreds of lives at once, like he did… how invigorating!_

 _At this moment, though, all that she wanted to focus on was this one mortal._

 _Finally he stopped walking when they'd found an empty gazebo in a park. He gently led her by the hand up the steps before releasing her as he took a seat. She nestled close to his side, not wanting to part from his warmth._

 _"The King… wants me to build machines that kill."_

 _So… that was it. His life bringing happiness through his creations was coming to an end._

 _"I tried to make him see reason… but he said the mice have gone too far. They even tricked his daughter into letting them steal from his own larder."_

 _"I don't understand… it's just a little syrup…" To kill for that?_

 _"He said it was more than that. They've grown too bold. The twins are calling themselves the King and Queen of Mice. They're tired of being forced into the shadows, and he's afraid they're going to overrun us."_

 _He ran a tired hand along his forehead. Though the toymaker still had ceased to age a day since their first encounter in the snow, the weight of his burdens seemed to reveal, if only for a moment, the true weight of his long life. "A mouse King and Queen…" she repeated. She'd never heard of people like this before…_

 _"I… I almost refused him right then! How dare he turn me to this? We had a deal, I wasn't coming to this court to build machines of war! But… now my nephew tells me he's enlisted. He's a soldier now. He wants to protect the princess, he said. Just like that… How could I possibly not do everything in my power to keep him safe?"_

 _She found herself leaning her body against his. Mortals, she understood, yearned for the comfort of touch. Getting this close to him, she could actually feel the built up tension in his nerves, his stiff muscles constricting with the stress of his choice. The toymaker's nephew had long ago made acquaintance of Princess Pirlipat, an enigmatic, proud, yet lonely figure. It just sounded so much like the boy to take such an impulsive action. He always wanted others to be happy… he himself never showing any signs of being upset, let alone tears._

 _She tried to think of a solution to the toymaker's dilemma. They needed to keep the mice away from the kingdom, right? Then at once it seemed so ridiculously simple._

 _"… he just wants them gone, yes?"_

 _The toymaker nodded his head. "He suggested I started arming my clockwork soldiers, build traps and…"_

 _"Hmph, they're just mice. You don't need to go that far."_

 _He looked into her eyes, and he bore the weight of someone who'd lost so much. "Mice… they hate cats right?"_

 _She smiled slyly at him as the recognition of her idea spread along his face. "SPIRITS ALIVE! I'm a dunce for not even thinking of it!"_

 _At once she found herself pulled into a tight embrace. "Ah, my Sugar Plum, I really am nothing without you! Ah, I'll get the plans drawn up tonight, we can roll them off the assembly line first thing in the morning! I think I have enough nodes to imprint them with the right commands…"_

 _She almost hesitated before she raised her arms and tightened them around him. She'd seen others do this, but she didn't understand why until just now… when her heart beat so strongly and swiftly…_

 _The toymaker stopped talking. He arched his eyes in surprise, but a soft smile spread along his lips. He drew his face close to hers, his sudden burst of energy dissipating. Was he truly as nervous as she was? He placed one of his hands to the side of her chin, running his fingers along her face… she started to twist his wondrously soft hair in her hands…_

 _The second their lips touched all of her nerves vanished. Jubilation warmed her body, the excitement of his passionate touch. She knew this wasn't the place for a faerie, this just wasn't done, and somehow the taboo only made it all the more exciting. He drew her closer, his embrace unyielding, yet his lips soft._

 _The two of them parted, a faerie and a toymaker, now bound by something far greater than mere fate written in stars. Everything felt so different… so frightening… and so wonderful._

 _The only sound interrupting their blissful silence was the ticking of the clockwork heart she kept tight in her coat._

* * *

Miku stared in shock at the face of the girl looking back at her from behind the wall of crystal. "Where… where are my friends!?" she sputtered.

The girl's cruel peals of laughter only toughened Miku's resolve. "Tell me this instant! Did you do something to them!?"

The girl's laughter died off. "If I did, do you really think you're strong enough to stop me? A tough brave girl, afraid of a bunch of mice! Waving around a toy sword like a toddler!"

Miku took a few steps backwards, trying to navigate the way out… yet to her it seemed as if the crystals had closed in around her. Was this the magic Kaito was trying to warn her about?

"Aw, that's more like it… a little scaredy cat who can't do anything without her doll to stand up for her."

"Stop it!" Miku shouted, "I'm not that weak! And I will find out where Kaito and Meiko are!"

The girl had her hands curled around her hips, swaying them back and forth as she continued her taunting in a sing song voice. "Suuure you will! Little girl, so brave throwing her shoes at the King of Mice but running like a coward when she sees him in front of her!"

Behind the girl, Miku began to notice a figure in the reflection. She whirled around and found herself face to face with the Mouse King himself. "Finally, I find you cowering here!" he said, cruelty dripping from his every word, "Now what should I do with you? There's so many ways for humans to feel pain!"

'How did he get in here?! How did he find me?!'

Miku backed away from him before breaking out into a panicked run. She had to escape him, she knew she wasn't strong enough to fight one of the creatures that took away her home from her…

* * *

Kaito just stared at first, still trying to comprehend why he was looking at a human version of himself. He retracted his wooden hand as he watched a horrible smile spread on the human Kaito's face. "You really don't get it, do you? Are you just a stupid doll, or are you trying to forget?"

Kaito finally turned his head away – he didn't want to keep staring into a face like his. "I'm not trying to forget anything… once I remember everything, I'll be able to save Miku. That's all that matters."

"That's all you ever do! You give up everything you have! You don't even think about the consequences!"

Kaito saw the crystalline walls begin to glow. He pulled out his sword out of reflex, expecting a fight.

But instead of enemies appearing before him, the walls began to project the inside of a glamorous, pastel-painted castle. He started to walk along the rich carpets – at first he recognized it as the inside of Miku's toy castle, but as the halls spread out in front of him, he began to remember more and more of it from memories of his past. The true Marzipan Castle. The boy followed close behind, casually walking with his hands behind his back. "You're not even being truthful to her. You knew that castle. You know who the toymaker really is."

"NO!" Kaito shouted, "I really don't remember! I… I…"

He thought he was being truthful – after all, he couldn't lie. He was a doll, and dolls couldn't lie.

"You're lying to Miku, you're lying to your princess, and you're lying to yourself."

Kaito wandered into an interior garden. On a gilded bench sat a girl in a red gown, her hands calmly folded in her lap.

She turned to face Kaito, her brown hair pulled back behind a red and gold headband. He knew those brown eyes, he knew this girl, _he was traveling with her right now._

Her lovely face pulled into a cruel scowl. "You ugly little doll, what are you doing in my presence? I thought I sent you away!"

* * *

"… he was your only friend."

"STOP IT!" Meiko shouted.

She hated even looking at the girl in the red gown – acknowledging that this person and she could be the same. "Why should I? You looked him straight in the eye and refused to tell him the truth. You're letting him live with a lie just to help you conceal your crimes."

Meiko tightened her grip on her sword. "I… I don't want to see him hurt any more than he already is… he'll remember when he's ready, right?"

The girl in the gown waved her hand dismissively. "That's how you always handle things," she scolded, "You wait for everyone to solve your problems… then you discard them when they're no longer useful."

Right before Meiko's eyes the girl's clear human skin turned to wood, her shoulders and elbows replaced by ball joints, her scowling face turning to paint. "Or is this what you're still afraid of?!"

All at once Meiko's nerves left her – she never wanted to stare into that reflection again and see those horrible empty eyes staring back. She never wanted to return to the days of pure isolation, hidden from everyone around her.

"Princess?"

She heard Kaito's voice and turned, barely registering the images from the crystals returning to her home, her bedroom.

"Princess, don't worry, I'll make it all right!"

There he stood, as she remembered him. An innocent human boy. Her first friend – her only friend.

The one she would abandon.

Her body lost all feeling as her limbs became wooden once more…

* * *

Miku tried to stay ahead of her pursuers, but it seemed as if she was running into a maze of lookalike corridors, constantly returning to the same place. And whenever she thought she was safe… one of the Mouse Royals would be there waiting for her.

Len, the ferocious swordmaster. Rin, the cunning sorceress.

"What makes you think you can go home?!" she said tauntingly, "Our reach is endless!"

She had a sword on her, she could fight them! Why didn't she have the nerve?!

"You're scared, that's why! You're pretending nothing bothers you so nobody will know you're a coward!"

And all the while this miserable specter was chasing her, taunting her in her own voice. A cruel doppelganger that knew how to push every one of her buttons. Where had she come from?! Why was she able to keep chasing her?!

At that moment Len leapt out at her, slashing his sword right at her. Miku just barely dodged his attack, drawing her own weapon to defend herself as she looked for an escape.

"You won't abandon the Nutcracker, will you?" he asked, "Then suffer your punishment. Maybe we'll run you straight through!"

Miku tried to back away, finding herself up against a wall of crystals and trying desperately to maintain a brave heart even as he advanced on her. Rin approached behind him, her crown nestled between her fuzzy ears. As they stood their threatening her, she couldn't bear it any longer. She had to force them to answer her, even if she couldn't protect herself.

"What did Kaito do to you to make you chase him so?!"

They stopped advancing, growing silent. "Well?! You must know! You MUST!"

For just a split second, Miku thought she saw the images of her tormentors flickering in front of her… like tricks of the light…

"We… we must have revenge!" Rin cried out half-heartedly, her tail whipping with rage.

Her hesitancy made Miku start to understand a valuable detail. She began to stride towards the mice without fear. "But for what crime? I know why you hate _me_ , I attacked the both of you. But you never told _me_ why you're after Kaito… and he doesn't remember."

The mice stayed perfectly still. Miku drew her sword, trying to steady her shaking hand. Len finally charged at her, his own weapon extended…

… only for Miku's sword to pass straight through his body as she tried to run him through. His own weapon never harmed her. "Neither one of you are real… are you?"

Miku glared at the image of the Mouse Queen, who appeared defiant of the pigtailed girl. "You wouldn't answer my question about Kaito… because you're creatures born out of _my_ thoughts. And I _don't_ know what you did to Kaito."

She felt courage welling up in her heart. "But… even if you are fake… I'm still going to fight the _real_ you too. Maybe not like a soldier, but I'll find some way."

She pressed a hand to her chest. "Fine, I am frightened still… I don't know if I'll make it home and see my family again."

She finally looked her own reflection in the eye. "But I'll accept that… and keep on looking for an answer! Even if the toymaker isn't it, I'll still keep fighting! And…"

She felt her emotions welling up. "And… I'll even find out what happened to my Nutcracker and save him too…"

All at once the cavernous maze faded from the crystal walls. As Miku suspected, she'd not been running through an actual maze - she'd been running in circles. Another illusion.

Rin and Len vanished into nothingness, leaving just Miku's doppelganger. "You did well, mortal. Such strength of spirit is necessary to survive in this world."

All at once the playful cruelty vanished, the girl becoming serious and stoic. "Tell me where Kaito and Meiko are! NOW!" Miku said as she stomped her foot.

Her reflection walked out of the crystal, taking her by the hand. "The Nutcracker's trial is the most painful… I shall take you to his first."

* * *

Meiko clutched her body tightly, trying to contain her feelings. Her muscles felt stiff… like wood. She worriedly examined her hands, watching the patterns begin to form on her skin, her fingers taking on a square shape.

"You deserve this! You told on us!"

She stared up at the Mouse Queen and King, clasping their hands and tails as one. "How many mice ended up dead because of you?"

"But I never asked for anyone to be _killed_!" She protested, "I didn't want anyone to be hurt! I… I just…"

"Meiko?"

She looked to Kaito, standing in the windowsill. She wanted to cry… but her wooden face and painted eyes allowed nothing to flow. "Kaito, please, stop trying to help me…" she pleaded, "I'm just an ugly wooden doll… nobody needs me anymore…"

The doll princess in her reflection laughed. "Oh, stop with that sob story, that's not how it happened!"

Meiko felt as if the weight of the world was about to crush her. She'd been told the curse couldn't affect her again… not so long as Kaito remained under its thrall… yet here she was… Kaito was human and she was a doll…

* * *

Miku followed her "twin" through the caverns, watching as the walls began to take on the appearance of a castle. "Is this… Kaito's trial?" she asked.

Every hallway was a perfect match of her toy castle. She could practically imagine Gakupo calling out all the rooms and inhabitants. She tried to recall the story he told her, wondering what clues he'd left behind.

She finally spied a magnificent indoor garden. "The level of detail here… this must be where Kaito's illusion led him!" She pressed on to find him, hoping he was close to breaking his way out on his own…

* * *

"M…Miku said I wasn't ugly…" Kaito whispered. Yet hearing his princess tell him so…

The human Kaito stood behind her. "But they called you that. You, the great hero who saved the princess, just a horrible Nutcracker cast out…"

The scenery began to change and now Kaito was in a darkened bedroom. The princess lay in the shadows, her curtains drawn tight and allowing only slivers of light to reach her. Her body was wooden, her face a frozen, painted mask. She wasn't quite a Nutcracker, but her appearance clearly unsettled those around her.

Kaito felt a strong, firm hand grip his shoulder in a reassuring manner… wait, he felt it?! How?! He stared at himself and his body was flesh and blood. He tried to pat himself down, astounded that he could feel… everything! He was _human!_

He looked behind him to see the man who had given him this revelation. A taller man with long purple hair pulled back in a ponytail. He didn't look that much older than Kaito himself, but something about his manner suggested his appearance was concealing his true age.

"Kaito, you were the only one who had a pure enough heart to find that uncrackable nut," the man said with an encouraging smile, "I suspect you're the only one who can open it without breaking your teeth as well. Now, remember your instructions?"

* * *

Miku's guide grabbed her hand and dragged her toward a large window. Inside the curtains were drawn, but the window had been cracked open to allow her to hear voices. She tried to tug the curtains apart to spy inside…

She almost passed out right then at the sight… Kaito, as a human, staring right up into the face of her godfather, Gakupo.

"Uncle…?" Kaito said, sounding unsure as he spoke the words.

'Gakupo… is Kaito's _uncle?!_ '

She wanted to cry out to them, but as if anticipating her reaction, Miku's guide squeezed her hand. 'Then Kaito has to do this alone…' she thought, turning back to watch the proceedings, 'Gakupo must be an illusion too…'

She tried to get a better look at everything and she started to realize that even if she'd not been a previous witness to these events, they _did_ bear a strong resemblance to the story Gakupo had concocted for her just a day ago about the people in her toy castle.

 _"All at once, the Princess found herself under a cruel enchantment, transformed into a grotesque living doll, frightening all who looked upon her with her wretched appearance… "_

'But that princess looks like Meiko!' she thought to herself.

She looked so sad and miserable, everyone around her trying to stay as far from her as they could. 'Do they really hate the dolls that much? Sure she looks weird, but she's just a doll, not a monster…'

Even if he wasn't real, the false Gakupo's bright smile was just as powerful as the one she'd known all her life. "Kaito, the steps for the curse. Crack the nut in your teeth, then give it to Princess Pirlipat. Close your eyes, then walk backwards seven steps without stumbling… and the magic will end."

"And in exchange for saving her from this wretched curse," The king proclaimed, "You'll have my daughter's hand in marriage! You'll be a prince!"

Miku felt her cheeks grow hot on the word "marriage."

* * *

Kaito tried to block out the memories flooding into his head. How terrible this day truly was. He didn't want to remember anything but he couldn't stop the rush any longer.

"You can't forget anymore," the other Kaito said, "You can't run from the past. You did this for her, and you know what you got out of it."

The princess' sad painted eyes stared into his… he didn't want her to suffer.

He stepped forward, placing the walnut between his teeth. A loud crack sounded as he easily broke through the shell. He approached the princess, dropping the nut into his hands and handing it to her.

"I… I can't see you in pain anymore…" he said, and as the words left his lips, he understood that this wasn't the first time he'd said it.

She placed the filling into her mouth… at once, her skin softened and turned white and clear, the paint on her face melting away as her proper features returned. She touched her cheeks with her normal hands and he thought she was going to cry. But his role wasn't yet over…

He closed his eyes, taking every step ever so slowly. Maybe he would be able to escape his true fate if he did it right this time…

"Silly human, you really think you'll escape my spell like that? If I can't have the princess, then I'll have you instead!"

* * *

Miku knew that tiny female voice and she searched until she quickly spied two familiar figures… the Mouse King and Queen, tiny and the size of true mice. They bound their tails together as Kaito was about to take his seventh step… his ankle caught upon them. She gasped as he tumbled backwards to the floor…

…CLACK!

By the time Kaito hit the ground, he was no longer a human, but a wooden doll just as Miku had known him to be.

"Hee hee! Have fun with your wedding, ugly Nutcracker!" Rin called out as she and Len skittered into a mouse hole and escaped.

At once utter chaos erupted around them. Kaito tried to stand up again, his wooden joints so much less nimble, and all the while the people around him gaped in horror and disgust at him.

"My god, it's hideous!"

"The princess having to marry that miserable thing?! Unthinkable!"

"Don't let that horrible Nutcracker anywhere near her!"

* * *

He stared into the eyes of the princess… his friend… someone he trusted…

Her brown eyes wide with horror, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

The guards began to descend on him, pinning his arms behind his back and holding him fast. "Drosselmeyer, what kind of scheme are you pulling?!" The King balked, "Passing off a nutcracker as a husband for my daughter?!"

The toymaker's initial horror seemed to vanish as the insult sank in. "How dare you talk to him like that after what he's done for you! You reckless idiot, first you put your daughter in danger, then you throw away her savior?! My _nephew!_ "

The king's face turned scarlet with rage. "I want both of them gone from my sight! From this kingdom! Let the mice decide what to do with you!"

As Kaito found himself dragged backwards, he struggled to stay. He kept watching the princess, hoping she would intervene on his behalf.

Instead, she spurned him again.

"Get that horrible, ugly Nutcracker away from me!"

All Kaito could see or hear was her cruel face, shouting the insults over and over again. Everything began to fade, but all he understood was his failure. What he'd become, so abominable that he'd driven this poor girl to pure fear.

"That is your reward, 'hero.'"

Kaito slumped to the ground, no longer bound by the guards. His failure had cost him so much… even his uncle had lost his home, his stature… all because of his own mistake.

He felt as if he was sinking into an endless abyss. He wanted to leave this behind forever… he wanted to forget…

"You have your escape… you wanted this, remember?"

Kaito yearned to hollow himself out and never awaken. His body felt so heavy and empty as a crushing power pressed down against him…

* * *

 _"In the end, it was not Drosselmeyer who saved her, but his nephew… only for the boy's kindness to become his undoing…"_

Miku couldn't hold back her tears as she watched poor Kaito suffer such cruelty. Gakupo's tale coming to such a sad end! He'd warned that the toymaker's nephew suffered for his kindness, but he hadn't warned her how much cruelty he'd experienced for a pure-hearted deed. Nor had he warned her that the princess was such a selfish, superficial monster…

She watched as Kaito's illusions diminished. The wall in front of her vanished, the two of them surrounded by darkness. She wondered if he was finally free of his trial, but the crystal walls had yet to return.

Kaito suddenly fell lifelessly to the floor, his limbs rigid. Miku got a look at his face and the expression had become entirely empty, two painted on eyes staring ahead. Like he'd fully become a normal toy again.

Miku sprang into action, rushing towards his side. She'd expected the other Miku or Kaito to step in her way, but neither of them prevented her from reaching Kaito's side. "Kaito! Kaito, please, look at me!"

When his body remained motionless, Miku's heart pounded. Had his own personal trial completely consumed him!? "Kaito, please, wake up! My Nutcracker, please!"

* * *

Kaito heard Miku's voice crying out to him, he could just barely see her, but he couldn't even feel her as she shook his body around. Why couldn't he have just stayed a doll?! It didn't matter when that was all he thought he was… now that he knew what he used to be, what he should be capable of, all he could sense was what he lost…

"Kaito… I'm not leaving you until you wake up!"

He heard his other self speaking to him again. "Can you be sure she won't turn on you?"

"Kaito, I promise I'll never treat you like she did! You're not ugly, there's nothing wrong with you, you're my dear nutcracker!"

But she sounded so sincere… and hadn't he promised to help her? If he disappeared again, she might never go home. She would lose her family just as he had lost his…

"Kaito… I won't give up on you… so please come back… I'll never let you be that lonely again…"

He tried to stop himself from completely retreating… he tried to focus on her voice and become himself again.

* * *

Kaito's eyes began to move again, his face coming to "life" as he started to sit up again. "Miku… you're real, right?"

The pig-tailed girl nodded her head quickly.

"You haven't learned anything, have you? You're going to get hurt even worse for her."

Miku wanted to start shouting at the illusory human Kaito, but as the doll version sat up, he stared at the boy. "I… I know that might happen. But… I have learned something."

He looked back to Miku and smiled at her. "I've learned that no matter what, there are always kind people worth fighting for!"

He returned to the other Kaito. "I _am_ scared of getting hurt again. I admit it. I… really did want to forget everything. It was easier being a doll if I never knew the truth. But… I can't help Miku if I keep hiding from the past either! And I… I want to help save Miku more than I want to forget what happened to me."

"Do you still care nothing for yourself?" the other Kaito asked.

Kaito shook his head. "I… I have to take care of myself because… I can't help anyone if I'm gone. And… now I know someone out there is looking for me too. I have to get back to him."

Finally the darkness faded and the normal walls of the cavern appeared around Miku and Kaito. The nutcracker stood up to his full height, looking to his human counterpart. "Meiko. Take me to Meiko."

* * *

No matter how much she tried to escape him, every corridor Meiko ran down led her right back to Kaito. Her heavy wooden footsteps clacked against the floor.

"You know how to end this! Just let him help you!"

"NO!" Meiko shouted, "I can't! I can't do that again!"

She finally collapsed in a heap as yet another corridor led her to Kaito. He innocently walked over to her, holding out the cracked nut in his hands. "Don't worry, princess, I'm here to rescue you!" he said with that ever present smile on his lively face.

She saw her other self in the crystals around her. "Just take it and push the burden to him. Then it won't be _your_ problem anymore!"

"I don't want to see you suffer anymore, Princess."

Meiko stood up and timidly held out her hand. Maybe this was her second chance? If she did everything right, they would both be saved and she could stop everything she'd set into motion…

She took the walnut pulp into her fingers and the second it passed her lips she felt flesh and blood return to her.

"Enjoy your ugly little groom!"

She heard the Mouse Queen's taunting and that horrible crack as Kaito fell to the ground. He rose in horror as he saw what he'd become - nothing had changed. She'd passed her curse onto the man who'd risked everything to save her. The Mouse Royals grabbed hold of Kaito and began to drag him away. "No! Stop it! Bring him back!"

His painted on eyes stared up into hers and Meiko couldn't stand it any longer. She clenched her sword close and began to run after him.

"Now now, that's not what you did," her other self chided, "You started this war in the first place by being a spoiled girl who wanted to get back at her parents."

This _was_ true. She loathed being the daughter of the Marzipan Court. Nobody treated her like a person, but a pretty accessory. She'd gotten so angry at her father one day that when she'd caught the mice sneaking around the castle… she'd led them straight to the cellar herself. If he couldn't work up being worried about _her_ , then let him be upset about not getting his precious shortcakes that night.

"I… I couldn't plan on my father starting a war over something so stupid!"

Len glared at her angrily. "But you lied to him when you saw how angry he was!"

Rin actually looked sad. "We weren't hurting anything… you said everything would be okay… then you turned your backs on us! You claimed we tricked you and then he set his machines on us!"

They kept dragging Kaito but she kept pursuing them. Not this time. She would not lose him this time.

"Pirlipat…" he said quietly, "I'm sorry I failed you…"

"Now what was it you said? Oh, right…" her reflection taunted, "Get that horrible, ugly Nutcracker away from me!"

Meiko hesitated in her footsteps. On that horrible day, when everyone erupted into fright and disgust over what had become of Kaito, it had been so much easier for her to be like them. To see him the way they had seen her. And she'd screamed at him rather than risk even a little inconvenience to try and protect him.

And now she couldn't even forgive herself. Kaito had treated her like an equal, when everyone else was terrified of her or her family. Always smiling for her and trying his best to cheer her up. She was so frightened of people that it was easier to just give them orders, but he wasn't remotely scared of her and so he became her only friend. And he never looked at her as a freak when even her own parents could barely stand to be in the same room with her as she hid away to suffer her curse in private.

She began to close the distance between the mice and herself. She drew her weapon and waved it as menacingly as she could. "I apologize for the burden I placed upon your kind, but I can't allow you to take vengeance on him in my stead!"

They stopped pulling, releasing Kaito as he clattered to the floor. "Then you'll take his place?"

Meiko stopped, her fear rising as she remembered how horrible it was to be a doll. It was like barely being alive… but… Kaito had become like this because of her…

"If… If it will stop the war… I'll… I'll do it. If it will save Kaito, I'll do it. I… I can't change what I did before, but if I have to give up everything I am now… then I will. To set things right."

She closed her eyes, waiting for that horrible feeling of nothingness to consume her once more.

But she remained flesh and blood.

She opened her eyes, only seeing her white-eyed copy in front of her. "You really believed that would work," she said. Yet now she didn't sound cruel… just sad.

Meiko looked around her, seeing no sign of the many corridors of the castle that she'd run through. 'Illusions… they were all illusions…'

 _Good_ illusions. "Hmph. Even if it wasn't really _that_ simple," she said, feeling a little bolder, "I'm still going to do whatever it takes to set this right. I never claimed to be innocent, and I won't protest it either. I left the castle, my home, my life… and my name. And I'll stay like this until it's all over!"

She didn't want to imagine how angry Kaito would be when he realized the truth. He might just abandon _her_ this time. She'd deserve it. Yet…

"Even if he hates me forever, I'll still do what I can to set him free from _my_ curse. I'll tell him everything… and let him have it out with me however he wishes!"

The other "her" turned her head and Meiko followed her gaze. She gasped on seeing Kaito and Miku walking out of the hallways. At first she questioned if they too were illusory, until she saw each one had another white-eyed copy of themselves with them.

So that was the danger of the Crystalline Caverns. Becoming trapped within a personal trial, never escaping them. But… did that mean they had seen even a part of her own trial?

"Kaito…" she began to say.

"Princess Pirlipat."

He cut her off, uttering her true name.

* * *

Miku was practically shaking from what she'd just witnessed. She mourned for Kaito, trying to help someone he cared for and losing everything for it – his humanity, his home, his family. She wanted things to be simple so she could just hate the princess who hurt him… but Meiko _wasn't_ that simple either. Her bizarre behavior seemed to make sense now – she couldn't completely reconcile her past crimes against Kaito with the present of having him already trusting her.

Kaito broke away from Miku's side, slowly walking towards Meiko. The "princess" tried to stand as bravely as possible, her shoulders squared as she prepared herself for whatever he was going to say to her…

"I'm glad you're safe."

Miku's jaw hung open at Kaito's calm words. His face wore a simple wooden smile as he continued walking calmly towards the similarly shocked Meiko. "Kaito, I ruined everything for you! You should be… furious!"

Yet fury seemed the farthest emotion from Kaito's mind. "But you're okay now. I freed you from the curse. That's all I wanted."

'I thought he wanted to marry her?' Miku thought to herself, her cheeks turning red again.

"You… you… stop smiling like that! You never think about what that looks like!" Meiko argued, "I _hurt_ you! You can't just keep pretending that didn't happen!"

A few tears formed in Meiko's eyes as her tough pose began to break. "You're always the same, Kaito… you know I'm not deserving of forgiveness and yet…"

Kaito laughed. "Ah, there's nothing to forgive!" he said, "You didn't even have to get married, so everything worked out perfectly!"

Meiko didn't seem to want to hear it. "But Kaito, what about you!? The curse didn't break, it just shifted to you! My parents are trying to capture you because as long as you're still bound by its power, the mice can't use their magic on me anymore!"

"THAT'S why they're hunting Kaito?!" Miku exclaimed, "That's terrible!"

Meiko hung her head. "When I found out about it, I couldn't stand for it anymore… I'd been feeling utterly ill ever since I sent you away as it was. When I realized they just wanted to trap you in a cell until the war ended, I'd had enough. I stole this officer's uniform and sword and ran away from home…"

She looked up to him sadly. "I didn't know if I'd ever find you, but I had to try."

The light laughter that came from Kaito startled both of them again. "Well then, I definitely can't stay angry! Coming all this way out here to help me even after I was the one who messed up breaking the curse!"

Miku couldn't imagine what more she could say. Kaito had such a pure heart, incapable of hatred. Meiko wiped the tears from her eyes. Now that her true identity was unveiled, she seemed a lot calmer.

"It's good to remember you again, Princess Pirlipat."

Upon her real name being used, Meiko made an odd face, scrunching up her nose. "Uh… please, just keep calling me Meiko."

The brunette fiddled with her fingers. "If nothing else, it'll make it harder for people to find me."

Kaito's laughter echoed in the caverns. "If you say so, Meiko!"

The nutcracker tapped his chin with his fingers. "So… I have an uncle…" he murmured, "Drosselmeyer didn't build me… he's family… that makes all of this easier to understand."

"Kaito, if you remember who he is now, do you at least remember what happened to him?" Miku asked.

The nutcracker tilted his head. "I definitely remember seeing him last at the workshop… but… I don't really remember that much about what happened when we got there… we'd been running from the mice for so long..."

The horrible image of Kaito collapsing to the ground like an empty doll haunted Miku's memories. Seeing his nephew like that would have broken Gakupo's heart…

It was definitely Gakupo – seeing him within Kaito's illusion only proved that. The face, the voice, the mannerisms… there was no mistaking that at one time he'd been Drosselmeyer. Perhaps he never mentioned his nephew because it was too painful to even speak of him. He couldn't very well say his nephew had _died_ , Kaito was "alive"… but nobody in her world would believe he'd turned into a doll either.

But now _she_ did.

"Kaito… that might be when you 'fell asleep'…" Miku said, carefully using his words even though to her he actually seemed dead.

Kaito seemed to be accepting Miku's explanation. "Maybe the mice caught us and made me go to sleep… that could be how I wound up with your godfather… and… my uncle, I guess."

The mental image seemed rather pleasing to the nutcracker given his goofy smile. "Ah! That's so exciting! I actually have a family! I can't wait to see him again!"

Miku turned to see the visages that had set up the "trials" in this cavern had yet to depart. "Can any of you show us the way out?" she asked.

With a tilt of the head, Miku's copy began to walk down the dark paths of the tunnels, followed by the false Kaito and Meiko.

* * *

After what felt like at least another hour of navigation, just long enough for Miku to worry that she might have made a mistake asking for help from these strange figures, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Miku breathed a sigh of relief – they hadn't lost _all_ of their daylight yet. Their guides came to a stop.

"We can't take you any further. The rest is up to you."

Miku searched the false Kaito's face for any other revelations, but he remained quiet. She didn't quite know whether to thank any of them – they had gotten herself and friends outside, but at the same time, they'd also nearly trapped them inside the cavern forever. The eerie white eyes of her copy kept tracking her as she walked past.

She began to leave the cavern, Meiko close by… but Miku heard Kaito's wooden footsteps stop. She looked over her shoulder to see he'd come to a complete stop, staring forlornly at his own copy. 'That's right… Kaito's reflection is a human, like he used to be,' Miku thought to herself.

She swallowed and walked back over to him. "Kaito, don't worry…" she said quietly, "I won't give up until you're free too."

For a doll, Kaito's facial expressions could be surprisingly telling. His sad expression shifted to a happier one, yet Miku noticed his mouth quivering, just a little. "Don't worry, my brave Nutcracker. We'll go home together."

"Of course we will!" he said, his voice sounding steadier, "I have to meet the rest of your family too, you know!"

'Right… that kind of makes Kaito family too, in a weird sort of way…'

To think her godfather had been lugging his nephew around in a suitcase all this time… now Miku wondered just how many other secrets he kept close to his chest.

As they walked together out of the cavern, Kaito's eyes widened upon seeing a glamorous sight. He broke away from Miku as he ran forward through the snow, holding his arm aloft. "Miku! That's the Rose Lake! We're almost there!"

His happy laughter cheered Miku up. "I'm almost home again!"

* * *

 **A/N:**

Phew, this was a heavy one. A number of payoffs chaining together, plus I got to delve a little into my interpretation of the Nutcracker's history.

In the original novel, the "Tale of the Hard Nut" is _three chapters long._ This covers the entire history of all the characters in the Land of Dolls and Sweets along with Drosselmeyer, and eventually the Nutcracker himself. It is also the ONLY appearance of Princess Pirlipat, who only appears in the novel. Also, it is told, in its entirety, by Drosselmeyer to Marie while she's recovering in bed from getting her arm scraped up. I wanted the backstory spread out a little more effectively than that. I wanted Kaito and Miku to learn things as they go, and to

I hesitate to say too much more about the Nutcracker's part in the Tale of the Hard Nut, since Kaito's story is very different. Suffice it to say though, the bizarre ritual he has to go through to break Pirlipat's curse is almost word for word the same, though I changed the conditions Kaito had to meet to break it in the first place.

Princess Pirlipat never knows the Nutcracker before he shows up to break the curse, hence why I had Meiko fearful here of being rescued and wed to a complete stranger. It was easy for me to decide to have Meiko be Princess Pirlipat, but I wasn't comfortable having her basically only exist to be a terrible person, refuse to marry Kaito, and then leave. It didn't jive with what I wanted a Meiko-based princess to be. And I got really curious about what would happen to a rude fairy tale princess if the story kept following her. She's probably been the hardest character to wrap my head around and had the most changes out of anyone in the cast, but I've enjoyed the challenge (and hey, finally Meiko has a meaty main character role.)

Oh, and the mice didn't steal syrup in the book… they stole lard for the King's sausage. Just in case you think I'm making up a war over something silly, no, it was always silly! I just thought something sweet made more sense given the name of the Kingdom. Princess Pirlipat is a baby when she's cursed though, so she really is innocent. Oh, and more fun from the novel – when Drosselmeyer had to figure out how to fix the princess in the novel, his _disassembles her and inspects her insides._

If it's not entirely obvious in the text, Luka was performing "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" in the opening flashback. The Sugar Plum Fairy is probably one of the best known characters from the story, but she's entirely original to the ballet – her fame derives entirely from the easily recognizable delicate celesta instrumentation. I actually debated having Luka always appear looking like a ballerina, but decided she'd look rather strange perpetually standing around in a tutu, especially in the snow. I had a lot of leeway with the character since I'm not using the plot from the ballet, but the original backstory in the novel covered Drosselemeyer and an unnamed astrologer solving the princess' predicament by reading her horoscope. I blended the astrologer character into Luka.


	6. Chapter 6: The Toymaker's Workshop

**Chapter 6: The Toymaker's Workshop**

 _The long weeks began to take their toll on the toymaker as he sought an ever elusive safe haven for himself and his Nutcracker nephew. The kingdom he'd once lived in chased the two of them out almost immediately. Even if it was the once great Drosselmeyer and his apprentice, the king's orders were absolute and a human and a cursed toy had no welcome._

 _Next they tried to seek shelter amongst the dolls. That was before the mice came seeking them out. Some of the dolls would occasionally grant them shelter, but it was always brief. The ferocity of the revenge-seeking mice would eventually drive them away again._

 _How had it all gone so horribly wrong?_

 _Every time he tried to correct his mistakes, he only compounded them. Every plan he forged led to unforeseen consequences. Even when his dear Sugar Plum tried to read the stars to divine the simplest solution to saving the princess, he hadn't thought to ensure the safety of the person delivering her a cure for her condition._

 _The faerie bore such a sorrowful face the last time he'd seen her. She promised to scour every single speck of light in the heavens to find a way to save the poor Nutcracker from his fate. And so he'd bid her goodbye, with the promise that she'd eventually return to him if she found a way to rescue him._

 _That was months ago._

 _One more person's pleasant life uprooted by his carelessness._

 _Only now was luck on his side, as he'd managed to make off with a pair of horses for the two of them to continue their escape. Before the Nutcracker and the toymaker rode into the grassy fields, he'd reminded the wooden soldier that should they ever become separated, their old workshop was their final destination._

 _And so the journey began in earnest, constantly interrupted by ambushes from their pursuers. The mice fought with no concern for safety, and his soldier's training did him well as he banished them again and again. The Nutcracker's short time served as a peace time soldier seemed to protect him, but still the toymaker would carefully inspect him after ever battle, trying to patch every crack and dent in the wood._

 _No matter how dangerous their pursuers, the Nutcracker's reaction to his fate seemed calm and resolute. He never complained. He never mourned. That's just the way he'd been, even as a human boy. Was he just always capable of being optimistic no matter what his circumstances?_

 _Would that he shared the Nutcracker's endlessly cheerful spirit in such grim days. The ferocity of the battlefields of the Marzipan Kingdom trying to decimate the mice only made the journey more hazardous. The toymaker lamented his own part in this tragedy, yet he seethed with rage against the humans who threw doll after doll at the endless army of supernatural mice. To them, their lives meant nothing – even as hard as it was to kill a doll, running along fields strewn with broken doll parts still remained unsettling._

 _But with the familiar sight of his old home in reach, the toymaker tried to press forward. He had ways to protect it, to keep the both of them safe. "Uncle, we're finally home…" Hope echoed in the Nutcracker's voice as he clutched his long blue scarf close._

 _The toymaker pushed open the door to his old home. It hadn't been properly cared for in some time – many of his projects had been relocated to his new home in the Marzipan Castle. But many of his older blueprints still remained. He took a few careful steps inside, approaching one of his wind up soldiers. "Hm… the stardust nodes need repairing… but I should be able to get them up and running again soon enough-"_

 _"UNCLE!"_

 _The warning came too late – he felt the sensation of cold steel piercing his chest. Pain shot through his limbs, radiating from the deep wound._

 _"NO!"_

 _The creature couldn't pull its sword out fast enough before the Nutcracker impaled it, the wretched black cloud filling the room. The toymaker placed his hand over his injury, blood staining his white gloves – perhaps the warning wasn't too late after all. In the process of turning to react his nephew's panicked voice, the blade had pierced his shoulder, missing his vitals._

 _More mice jumped down from the upper level. "Ugly Nutcracker can't stop us! As long as you roam free, we'll chase you and destroy anyone that comes between the Mouse Royals' revenge!"_

 _The Nutcracker tried to block access to his uncle as the toymaker fumbled for his own weapon. He drew a sword with a multi-colored blade, standing at his full height and trying to shrug off the pain as his foes skittering forward to engage…_

 _The Nutcracker became a whirl of sword play – his fury stunned the toymaker as he watched the "boy" fight like a seasoned warrior. The mice seemed to concentrate only on fighting him. In mere moments, before the toymaker could properly enter the melee, it was already over, the mice nothing more than the fading clouds of smoke surrounding the one who slew them._

 _The Nutcracker remained silent as the combat came to a close. He finally turned to his uncle and his previously cheerful demeanor appeared completely shattered. "Uncle… please don't die…" he pleaded._

 _'I need to stay brave for him…' the toymaker thought. "It's not a serious wound. My sword arm won't be good for a few days, but… I'll get some gauze and sleep on it. Everything will be fine. Please… don't worry."_

 _The smile never returned to the Nutcracker's face that day. His uncle's mind focused only one trying to fortify the building, turning the keys on the mechanical soldiers. He assured his nephew that the mice couldn't harm them here, not again._

 _The Nutcracker seemed to accept this, but he drew no great comfort from it. Eventually, though, the nephew convinced his uncle to rest for the night, so his arm might heal. As much as the toymaker wished to stay awake if only for his sake, the pain of the wound drew enough energy out of him to accept the wisdom in his words._

 _Had he understood what would happen before he awoke, he likely never would have slept._

 _For as the morning sun in his window danced in his eyes and he called out to his nephew, only silence greeted him. As panic set in, he frantically searched the workshop for any signs of intrusion… yet everything remained in place._

 _Finally he saw it. Nothing had been "taken", but something had been added._

 _A small toy Nutcracker lay atop his nephew's old bed, resting gently atop a pillow. Slowly he approached the bed and saw that familiar blue hair, those rosy cheeks, and the permanent smile._

 _He fell to his knees, cradling the Nutcracker in his hands… the sense of despair choked him, clutching at his insides as he wept bitterly. He felt the sensation of sorrow collapsing in on him, an otherworldly force wrenching at his heart. Yet he felt no will to fight against it and he allowed it to swallow him up…_

* * *

 _"Snow falling, I warm it to make white chocolate out of it! On a sponge street, I waltz with you as we melt into the sweet clouds!"_

Kaito's chipper singing voice was welcome after the harrowing experiences of the Crystalline Caverns. Technically Miku knew she should probably tell him to stop, given the chance of them being ambushed at any time. But listening to his lovely tones helped her to maintain her own sense of security.

 _"For you, I'll make it taste bitter. I put more meringue than usual, ah! There comes a kirsch-flavored strawberry carriage!"_

Even Meiko had a calm smile on her face as she followed behind Kaito's footsteps in the fresh fallen snow. Miku still didn't entirely know how to broach the odd subject of the "princess" and her past with Kaito. The complicated history they shared, Kaito's seemingly easy forgiveness of her grievous slight against him… the idea that they were supposed to get _married_.

She looked out over the pink waters of the Rose Lake and tried to banish the sudden jealousy taking root in her heart. 'If Kaito and Meiko were together, it's not my business. We've only just met after all!'

Miku almost slapped her cheek to change her train of thought.

 _"Wearing the scent of vanilla, I take a ticket for Christmas. At a candy store on a chiffon cake street I buy your favorite tart. I walk delicately to your house so that I won't drop the cake!"_

Kaito's rather attractive voice playing in her ears wasn't helping matters. Where had all these thoughts come from all of a sudden?!

"Miku, do you know this song?"

She gasped as she realized Kaito was talking to her. "I mean, my uncle taught it to me… and if he's really your godfather, then maybe you know it too?"

Meiko's royal airs seemed to return. "Indeed, it's a rather common seasonal melody back at the Marzipan Court!"

The errant princess began to sing a few lines for herself.

 _"My original decoration, the crescent moon and one kiwi, cocoa powder stardust, magic in the night sky!"_

'Gah! Is she challenging me?'

Miku hummed a few bars in her head. She actually _did_ remember hearing this song once before… she gave the lyrics her best shot.

 _"It won't take much time to your house. I wonder if my cake isn't crumpled? Hey, wait my reindeer! Going through clouds by red-nosed limited express, look!"_

Kaito clapped his wooden hands together and to Miku it sounded like two wood blocks tapping against each other. "Ah, you have a pretty voice too! Is there _anything_ you can't do Miku?!"

'Kaito, do you _really_ have no idea what that sounds like?!'

Miku glanced to Meiko, but if the brunette was going to show any signs of jealousy, she seemed to be able to keep them turned inwardly. A seemingly great feat for Meiko to keep anything contained.

As the group continued to walk along through the light snow, they continued to sing their carol together, their voices slowly forming an even harmony.

 _"Where snow begins to fall is acrylic pink. Ah! As I touch it, my fingertips get colored light purple!"_

"Hmmm… we probably won't make it across the lake shore before nightfall…" Kaito murmured.

He stared out ahead at the glowing sunset over the lake. The orange and red hues in the sky reflecting in the pink water set Miku's imagination ablaze. 'I wonder how come it hasn't frozen over…' she thought to herself.

"Are you suggesting we might need to stop out here?! In the _cold?!_ "

Meiko's horrified expression certainly gave away her pampered origins. Not that Miku had any experience with sleeping outside either…

Everyone set down their packs and tried to take stock of what they still had after the crash. "Well, that's plenty of blankets for Meiko and I…" Miku said.

"And this looks like enough food for Miku and I to sustain ourselves…" Meiko added, going through Sweet Ann's elaborately packed treats.

Kaito seemed to be looking the supplies over. Miku realized that everything Sweet Ann had sent along had been appropriate for humans. Kaito's wooden doll's body required no protection from cold nor sustenance for hunger after all. Even the blue scarf that hung from his neck all the time was merely ornamental.

"All we need is fire wood for you two!" he said happily, "Oh, she even provided some kindling for us! Ah, they were the nicest dolls I've ever met!"

Meiko rose to her feet. "Fine, it would be most appropriate for me to gather some twigs and branches for a fire!" she volunteered. "You and Kaito can prepare a place for us to sleep."

Though Miku was hoping to spend some time _apart_ from Meiko, she wasn't sure it was safe to let her wander alone… and _Miku_ had her own quandaries to resolve without Kaito in earshot.

"Ah, Meiko, it's probably best if I accompanied you," she said, "Of the three of us, Kaito is the most capable of protecting himself should the mice come after us."

Meiko grumbled to herself. "I suppose your advice is _sound_ ," she said, "We'll be sure to keep our search close to the campsite… just in case misfortune is following us."

Kaito cheerfully waved to his friends before he set to work setting up beds for the two of them. Miku tried to keep up with Meiko's quick footsteps, grabbing at branches along the way. Soon her bundle of sticks looked far more impressive than Meiko's. Finally the brunette stopped walking and whirled towards Miku's direction.

"You can stop pretending you're following me just to help. I know you saw everything."

Miku almost dropped the sticks at such a sudden confrontation – of course she _wanted_ to confront Meiko, but she hadn't expected to get undercut right away. "Come now, out with it. Just because he already let me off doesn't mean you will. Kaito's the only person mad enough not to hold a grudge over so deep a wound."

The pigtailed girl pulled her bundle tighter. "Why did you do that to him? I saw his entire trial…"

Though as she recalled how her own trial turned out to be an illusion drawn from her thoughts, she added "I saw it how he remembered it anyway."

Meiko's harsh expression wavered. She began to stumble around, haphazardly grabbing at discarded sticks. "I see. Then you saw me at my worst."

"… Kaito almost died remembering it."

For just a moment, Miku wanted Meiko to know just how much Kaito wasn't saying. She wanted Meiko to understand just how much more weight her actions carried against him.

All of a sudden, Meiko looked up at Miku with such a curious glance that it was as though the princess had never met her before. "What of you? You told me back in Bonbon that you came from the World Beyond with him… so how did he get out there and why was he with _you_?"

In all the calamities of the past days, Miku hadn't spent much time pondering how strange the events surrounding her had started. "I… my godfather brought a toy nutcracker with him at Christmas and gave him to me. And in the evenings, as everyone fell asleep, he sprung to life and ran from the mice."

Meiko looked doubtful. "But you can clearly see Kaito is _not_ some little toy, even if he has a doll's body!"

Miku tried to shift the sticks in her arms to keep from dropping them. 'How _did_ he get like that?' she thought, 'That was when he said he was "asleep", right? But… he woke up when I spoke to him…'

How small those worries about finishing school seemed when she'd been murdering monstrous mice.

"So you're no better. Your reason for following him everywhere is try and save yourself, yes?" Meiko prodded.

Having her journey given such a sterile tone made Miku perk up with anger. "I promised my godfather I was going to protect him!" she said defensively, "And… and I have! I even attacked the Mouse King _himself_ to stop him from hurting my Nutcracker! And no matter how frightening he is, I'd do it again! I'm not going to be happy until Kaito and I can be free _together!_ And… and if you're going to stay with us, I need to trust that you're going to stick by him instead of saving your own skin if things get too hard!"

The brunette princess seemed stunned – had she really not been dressed down like this in her entire life?

"… there is nothing I can say to repair that wound. Nothing."

Meiko returned to gathering sticks, her small bundle finally growing. "Where I grew up, my parents kept me so sheltered. I barely understood how the world worked, and I did what they told me – it was just easier that way. I had plenty of servants, but none who would ever approach me as an equal."

'Is this supposed to make me feel sorry for her?' Miku thought. It seemed awfully self-centered…

She let out a long sigh. "Kaito isn't a person like that though… he just does what he wants. He wandered in on me in the garden and started talking to me like I was anyone else. I didn't realize how important that was until…"

Miku made a stab at trying to grab some more sticks. She thought she was beginning to understand what Meiko was actually doing. "He hasn't changed, not a bit! My parents wouldn't even look upon me when I was under that wretched curse! They didn't think anyone would even try to help me unless they thought they were getting something out of it! Just trading me away like that… promising my hand in marriage to any stranger that could end the curse…"

There was that word again. "Kaito wouldn't have been a stranger though…" Miku started to say, only to be interrupted as the princess let out another loud groan.

"But I still didn't want to just _marry_ him! I didn't LOVE him!"

She finally seemed to have more sticks than she could carry. "Kaito… he came to find me when nobody even had the courage to look at me…"

Her voice wavered for a moment. "He wasn't afraid. Not one bit. When I told him about the marriage promise… he told me if _he_ saved me, then I wouldn't have to marry ANYONE if I didn't want to! Just… completely oblivious to what any of it meant! All with that… that… stupid smile on his face!"

She clutched her branches closer to her body. "You know what? The worst part of that curse? I couldn't feel anything... I just wanted to cry my eyes out, but I couldn't… I guess... that's not a problem for Kaito. He's always trying to smile for everyone, so he never cried before… being a doll probably just makes it easier for him to just smile forever…"

Meiko coughed, her body stiffening as she brushed past Miku. "This should be enough, right? We'd better be the ones to light the fire… I don't want poor Kaito to turn into kindling."

As the princess marched out of the woods, Miku only somewhat seemed to understand the point of their conversation when the princess stopped her stride and turned back to face Miku. "I don't care whether you think much of me. My actions were… reprehensible. But I refuse to set foot in my old home or wear my crown again so long as Kaito remains under the thrall of the Mouse Twins."

Meiko turned away from her again. "I simply ask… that you prove to be a more loyal person than I."

If Miku had thought Meiko's honesty was going to make her easier to understand, now it seemed having her past laid out so plainly was only making her even more confusing. But… at least now she felt more comfortable having her around them again.

* * *

Kaito marched around the camp mindlessly. He'd offered to take on the watch for the first part of the night so Miku and Meiko could sleep first.

He still didn't quite understand how a doll's body needed sleep – it seemed to work differently than it had when he was human. For example, he didn't seem to dream when he slumbered. The times he slept he seemed to essentially cease to think or feel, only regaining those functions as his crude approximation of sleeping came to an end. He honestly preferred trying to stay awake given how unsettling the act felt to him now.

Still, he couldn't stay awake indefinitely… he had a vague recollection of his body simply giving out when he'd over exerted it. But that wasn't the time he'd "fallen asleep" and forgotten everything…

He found himself turning to his slumbering human companions. There _was_ an advantage to no longer feeling the cold or needing shelter… but not feeling it any longer only seemed to further highlight the difference between his two existences.

'No, I can't be thinking like this… Miku and Meiko need me at my best… I have to smile for them, no matter what.'

He tried to bury the worries in his heart. Once he found his uncle again, maybe he'd have found a way to save him. But now when he tried to clearly recall the last time he'd seen his uncle, a sense of fear rose up in his heart. Was the toymaker really okay? He felt a great pain when he tried to think of it…

As Kaito's eyes fell towards Miku, he finally realized he should have been alert before – she was laying up, wide awake. "Miku?" Kaito whispered.

She looked over to Kaito with an embarrassed look on her face. "I… I can't sleep…"

"Oh, again? Are you just a really light sleeper?"

Miku tried to pull her blankets closer. "I… um… Kaito, ever since I came here, I haven't been able to sleep at all actually…"

"AH! Miku, you're not turning into a doll too are you?!" Kaito said with worry, "How do your limbs feel? Stiff?!"

The sharp "SHHHH!" she uttered reminded Kaito that Meiko was at least asleep. He tried to lower his voice. "I'm sorry… I just want to make sure you're okay."

Miku kept the blankets pulled tightly around her body as she crawled closer to Kaito. He sat down on the bare ground with her, trying to stay far back enough from the fire to keep himself safe while ensuring Miku would stay warm. "I'm sorry, Miku…" he started to say.

"Enough of that," she said, "You didn't make this happen to me. And frankly…"

She looked over to the sleeping princess. "Meiko didn't do this to you either."

Kaito rested his head on his knees. He tried to recall what Meiko was like before. "I know she can be very… difficult… but Princess Pirlipat, ah… Meiko. She's not a bad person."

Even as difficult as remembering the past with her could be… "She doesn't always know how to handle people, but she eventually learned how to handle me. I think… I think she wants to be better though."

He tried to safely recall the memories of their friendship. Snippets of her dashed through his head.

"Oh, she was a really big fan of the ballet! The prima ballerina in particular! Oh, she even had a pair of red slippers but she'd always stumble and fall when she tried to stand on her toes… we used to sing together too, it was something we actually had in common and…"

 _"Get that horrible, ugly Nutcracker away from me!"_

As that sharp voice impinged on his thoughts, Kaito's excited tale ended abruptly.

He had wanted to relieve his friend of the weight of her burden back in the cavern, and how easy that had been to simply put the entire endeavor into his past and think only of how wonderful it was she was alive and safe. He recalled that he'd long ago learned to muddle through everything painful by simply smiling and letting go. He could vaguely recall all sorts of horrible names and insults slung his way in the aftermath of falling under his curse, but hers stung the worst. "I just want her to be free too," he said, trying to keep up his smile.

'Maybe the boy in the cavern was right… maybe I did this to myself somehow… forgetting my past, turning into a lifeless toy…'

Miku seemed to be searching his face. "Kaito, I really appreciate that you're always so optimistic," she said gently, "But it's okay if you feel sad about something too."

'Ah! Am I being too obvious!?'

He tried to smile even harder for her. "Please Miku, don't worry about me! Everything will be fine when we reach the workshop!"

That didn't seem to satisfy her. Kaito was certain if he still had a heart, it would be pounding by now. "Kaito, I saw you in the cavern… I saw all of it. You really scared me back there… I thought you were dead…"

Of course, she probably hadn't talked about his "trial" because Meiko was close by and no doubt she didn't want to upset her. Kaito looked out over the fire, casting orange light around the tiny campsite. "I can forget, okay? I just want to be strong for everyone else…"

'… that's what you need me to be, right?'

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Miku leaning closer to him. "… so you don't care about what makes you happy? I thought that's all you said matters?"

Kaito lowered his head further. "I… I just meant that… I mean, when other people are happy, so am I."

He wasn't lying…

"I'm not happy when I know you're hurt and you're lying about it, Kaito."

He tried to ignore her prodding. Why did any of it matter? He must not be good enough at smiling. 'But right now I don't feel like smiling…'

"… Miku, what do you want me to do?!" he said in frustration, clenching his hair with his wooden fingers. He still couldn't bring himself to look at her with his feelings in such chaos.

"I don't want you to hold back, that's all," Miku said, "You're a really strong person, you don't have to keep proving that to us. I want to be able to help my Nutcracker too."

 _My Nutcracker_. Whenever anyone else called him a Nutcracker, it was with pity or an insult. Whenever Miku said it, it sounded so tender and kind. Kaito finally managed to look Miku in the eye again. "Miku, you _did_ help me," he confessed, "When I was back there… I just wanted to leave everything behind. Forget what I'd become and why. Go back to being just a doll. And if I couldn't do that? I just wanted to be nothing at all."

He looked at his blocky wooden hands, trying to remember the cruel illusion of being human again right down to the sensation of feeling his uncle's hand gripping his shoulder. "When it all came back just like that, it felt like I had nothing to live for. But then you were just sitting over me, promising you'd never leave. It made me think that I _did_ have at least one person to stay here for, even if it hurt to remember."

This time when he smiled, it felt real.

Miku twisted a strand of hair around one of her fingers. "Kaito… I've been thinking. If Gakupo's from my world, and he's your _uncle_ , are you from that world too?"

He tried to recall fully, but his foggy mind still made it difficult to reach all the way back into his life. 'It must be a side effect of the curse,' he thought to himself. Even so, he had vague recollections of a kind woman with brown hair and a shabby but loving home. "I think I did," he said, "I don't remember a lot about it right now. It feels like the further I get from the memories I saw in the cavern, the trickier they are to remember right."

Kaito gave it his best shot, trying to remember more about that house. He felt a sharp pain as he remembered what happened to that kind woman, his mother. But that vanished almost at once when he recalled how quickly his uncle stepped in. "My… my uncle took me in after mother died… I became his apprentice right here in his toy shop. I wasn't very good at making toys, but he always kept encouraging me to try anyway."

Memories of the princess still felt much clearer. "Pirlipat… ah, Meiko… everyone always said she was self-centered and snobby, but I thought she seemed lonely. I was right, too. That's how we became friends! That's what made me decide to become a soldier… my uncle taught me so much about sword fighting too! If I couldn't be a good toymaker, maybe I could be a soldier like he used to be and then… and then…"

That sharp pain returned for just a moment. "Then… I wouldn't lose anyone anymore…"

'But I lost my uncle… and I still don't even know how!'

He finally turned his head and noticed Miku was sitting right next to him, leaning into his body. He hadn't even been able to feel it! For a moment he wished he could sense her warmth… he tried to place a blocky hand on her shoulder and she looked up and smiled kindly at him.

"Miku… I still remember everything you said in the garden. When I first woke up."

He saw her blush a little. "Oh… that was just me being… ummm…"

He hoped he hadn't embarrassed her but she was being so kind to listen to his problems…

"Miku, I know you're worried about what other people think you should do and what you need to do to make them all happy, but… I just want you to know that ever since I met you, you've always made _me_ happy."

She seemed to be blushing even _harder_ now. 'Ah, maybe I did say the wrong thing!' Kaito thought to himself.

"… Thank you, my Nutcracker."

Kaito finally sleep begin to tug at him for the first time since he'd sprung back to life in Miku's home. His wooden head drooped as he struggled to keep it up. "Kaito, if you're tired, I'll stay awake and keep an eye out for any ambushes. It's not like I can sleep anyway." Miku said, with a light laugh, "I'll be right here when you wake up."

That was one thing he knew he could trust. He began to close his eyes and drifted into dreamless slumber, content that Miku would still be waiting for him when he awoke again…

* * *

By the time the morning sun rose, the three fugitives were packed and on their way to the workshop once more. While they'd been relatively undisturbed, they all agreed they'd rather their next shelter have a roof over it. And a _covered_ fire place – just in case.

 _"Mirror, Mirror, Mr. Mirror! Please stop saying that I'm the fairest of all! As the other's thorny stares are closing in on me!"_

Miku finally felt cheerful enough to lead the morning's marching song herself. Fortunately, Kaito and Meiko seemed to be aware of the lyrics at least. Miku figured out quickly that many of the songs Gakupo would sing to her were songs he'd learned in the Land of Dolls and Sweets.

 _"Please, I wish you would wake me up with your kiss, and bring me out from this white coffin I'm sleeping in. Piercing hatred is such a drama-like thing, but no matter how much I pray, you my prince are still not here!"_

Meiko in particular seemed to be enjoying this one.

All night, Miku had kept a careful eye on Kaito. Yet his way of sleeping seemed to involve no motion at all. Given that he was a doll, he couldn't snore or breathe of course. Instead she kept watching his face to make sure he appeared to be sleeping and not becoming a hollow empty doll again. His eyes had remained in thin lines, as if they were normal human eyes simply closed. That gave her some confidence – it wasn't the empty face of the caverns.

 _"Mirror, Mirror, oh Mr. Mirror! Since everything is left to the princess, the dog and snake bit at my neck!"_

Today though he was even singing along with the silly song about the snow white princess. He'd seemed more genuinely happy – she hoped that meant he was finally starting to come to terms with everything that had happened to him.

Because right now, fussing over Kaito was letting her come to terms with what was happening to _her_. She didn't _think_ she was about to transform into a doll, but the Mouse Queen had declared she intended to do exactly that. And now it worried her that she couldn't sleep…

"SHHH!"

Meiko's sharp admonishment stopped the singing at once. She pointed to tracks in the snow. "Mice…" she said in a low voice.

Miku put her hands on her sword. "Kaito, do you think they're waiting for us?"

Kaito had his weapon drawn and ready. "They know about it… they might have been expecting us."

His footsteps quickened in the snow, all cheer lost from his persona. "There is truly _nothing_ they won't try to take from me," he muttered under his breath.

As they began to clear the woods, Miku caught sight of what she expected was the very workshop they needed to find, well at the bottom of the tall hill they stood upon. An old wooden building, at least two stories high, with unusual cogs and engines attached to the exterior. The coloring was faded, but the paint represented a wide pallet of pastels. Outside several life-size clockwork humanoids lay scattered and broken in the yard… as well armored mice marched back and forth.

"Is the King or Queen there?" Meiko asked quietly.

"I don't see them… they might still be searching for me elsewhere," Kaito responded, his painted eyes darting around the yard, "We need to try and get all of them if that's the case…"

Miku took several deep breaths. They needed to charge into the yard and kill the mice. She, a normal young woman, was going to run them all through. It didn't seem the most effective strategy though.

"Okay… when I give the signal, we'll just rush in there and kill them all!" Kaito said harshly.

Meiko's alarmed face could have mirrored Miku's. "Kaito, that's not safe! There's so many of them!"

"… then… um… you two can stay up here and I'll fight them," Kaito fumbled, "I don't get hurt so it won't matter!"

'Does he still think of himself as so expendable?!' Miku thought with worry. She couldn't let him try something so dangerous, not when they were so close to their destination! The young girl searched the fallen snow for something she could use besides just charging in blindly. 'All we have is snow and sticks and rocks… and… and… that's all we need!'

She clapped her hands together. "Kaito! We don't have to charge in like that! I have a great idea!"

She gestured to the snow around them. "If we roll up all this snow and push it downhill… we can make it into a giant boulder and take out all the mice in the yard!"

The silence that followed Miku's suggestion worried her a moment. "That's… quite a sound plan…" Meiko said, "Between the three of us, we could set quite a few off and follow them into battle with the stragglers…"

Kaito tapped his wooden face with his fingers, each one making a little clicking noise from the contact. "That would give us the advantage too…"

His smile returned at once. "Miku, you're so smart! What would we do without you?!"

He set to work at once, bending down and clumping the snow together. Miku joined him, grateful Sweet Ann had provided her with thick gloves as she set to her task.

* * *

"Hrmph… King Len said they'd be coming back… they always come back here! But the Nutcracker still hasn't shown his face!"

The lieutenant scowled at his minion. "Do you dare suggest King Len could make a mistake?!"

A low rumbling sounded out in the hills. The mice turned to attention. "The Marzipan King's army?!"

All of a sudden several massive snow balls the size of boulders rolled into view, moving towards the workshop at blinding speed. A massive wall of snow built up, flying towards them as their momentum only increased…

"A…Avalanche! Every mouse for himself!"

* * *

Miku slid down the hill, trying not to lose her momentum. She had thick branches under her shoes – not exactly a sled, but it would do in the circumstances. As the snow crashed into the yard, covering the mice, she saw several familiar black clouds puff out. "Great! We got a few of them right away!" she cheered.

As she reached the bottom of the hill, she kept her weapon ready in case more mice appeared. "Miku, watch out! The foul rodents are rising from the snow!"

Meiko leapt forward fearlessly, drawing her weapon and slicing through the air as she came to land atop the pile of snow. Her sword passed through a mouse that had survived the initial impact, a black cloud swishing around her. Miku turned toward the open door of the workshop as several more mice swarmed outside. "You awful humans, using tricks like this!"

"Get out of my uncle's workshop!" Kaito shouted as he charged at them recklessly.

As the mice spread out, Miku tried to steel her will enough to fight them. She eased in close to Kaito, trying to prevent herself from being overwhelmed. She felt her heart race as one of the mice dove at her.

POOF!

Her blade found its mark, the cloud washing over her. 'I… I can do this!'

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Meiko fighting with far more confidence than she'd shown earlier. "I won't let you creatures harm my comrades!"

The chaos of the fight began to ebb as the mice fell to the ferocity of their attackers. As the yard calmed, Kaito beckoned to his companions. "Stay close, we need to sweep the grounds and make sure we don't have any remaining! We have to get them all so they don't tell the Queen and King that we're here!"

The trio began to scatter, staying within each other's line of sight as they tried to spot any additional scouts fleeing. Miku tried to calm the adrenaline rushing through her system from what she'd just done – she'd actually fought in a real battle and gotten out alive.

Then she spotted it – climbing out of the snow and running at full speed. "KAITO! MEIKO! OVER HERE!"

The small mouse quickly shook the snow from its fur and ran along the ground on all fours. Miku tried to keep up the pace behind it, but it was just so much faster than her. She grasped at a rock in the snow and hurled it in desperation, but the mouse easily evaded her projectile.

"King Len! Queen Rin! Must tell King Len, Queen Rin!"

Before it got any further, Miku saw a brilliant flash of white light, nearly blinding her right there. She stumbled in the snow… as did the now distracted scout. A figure in purple clothing dove forward and Miku saw a flash of multi-colored steel...

The mouse found itself cut down before it could properly recover, the black cloud swirling around the figure who'd killed it. As the smoke cleared, Miku got a good look at the swordsman as the morning sun cast its light upon him.

Gakupo Kamui.

"Godfather…" she whispered in awe as he looked her way.

Gakupo slipped his sword back in its sheath at his side. "Thank the heavens you're safe, Miku," he said with a relieved smile, "I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner!"

Before any more happy words could pass between the reunited pair, a far louder voice broke out.

"UNCLE! Uncle, you're okay!"

Kaito almost stumbled in the uneven snow in the yard as he ran as fast as his lanky wooden legs could carry him. As he caught up to Gakupo, Miku watched her godfather's simple cheer vanish. Unlike the confident man she'd known all her life, he seemed to tremble as he witnessed the Nutcracker running towards him.

Kaito nearly crushed his uncle in a very un-doll-like embrace – clearly not being able to _feel_ the hug wasn't nearly enough to shut off Kaito's very human impulse in light of such a joyous reunion. "Miku and I were trying to get here and find you, just like you told me to do… I was so scared maybe the mice had taken you or… or…"

As the two separated, Miku looked into her godfather's face and saw the hints of tears in his eyes in spite of his happy smile. "Kaito, I was so much more worried about you… it's been so long since you've been alive… there were days I worried I'd never hear your voice again…"

Miku approached the two carefully. Hearing the weight in Gakupo's voice almost made her feel guilty for trying to break things up. She loudly cleared her throat. "Godfather."

Gakupo released his nephew as he turned to face her. "Miku, I can't imagine you're terribly happy with me right now for what I never told you…"

She crossed her arms together. "It's all right, I've heard a _great_ deal of stories about 'Drosselmeyer the Toymaker.'"

He ran a hand over the back of his head and laughed. "Now do be honest with me Miku, if I had told you any of this before, would you have honestly believed me?"

At that, her godfather winked at her. "Or would you have let your mother talk you out of it?"

She winced – he was right.

"Um… that woman with you…"

Upon hearing Meiko speak, Miku finally realized that Gakupo wasn't the only new face. An ethereal woman wearing a long white coat and white boots, her sleek pink tresses flowing down her back, stepped out of the trees. Though she wore a smile, something about her seemed guarded – this was not a smile showing strong emotions, but like a smile meant to hide them.

Meiko let out an excited gasp as she seemed to finally recognize her. "Ah… AH! That's… That's Luka Megurine, the prima ballerina!"

The woman gave a dainty laugh. "Indeed, princess. I do recall seeing you at _several_ of my shows," she said.

Meiko began to blush. "W…well… it is only normal for someone of such talent to draw my attention…" she said, trying to turn her head away but her face curling into a star-struck smile.

Miku watched Gakupo's face turn dark as he saw Meiko. "What are you doing here?" he said coolly.

The blush vanished and Meiko actually shrank back. "I'm… I'm here to help Kaito."

All the pomp from her voice had vanished under Gakupo's withering glare. "Uncle, Meiko has been a great help to us!" Kaito interrupted, "She helped fight the mice and she drove our sleigh out here and…"

"Meiko?"

Upon hearing the false name, Gakupo seemed startled. "… I don't deserve to be a princess anymore," Meiko said, looking down in the snow, "Not until I've set right the calamities I set into motion. So… Meiko is fine for now."

The toymaker studied the princess carefully before softening. "If Kaito has forgiven you, I've no further quarrels with you…" he murmured.

He looked to Miku once more and she saw that familiar inviting smile. She ran forward through the snow, not caring about anything but seeing someone who had encouraged her, protected her, and loved her all her life. She jumped into his arms and took comfort in his paternal embrace and the ever welcome _tick-tock_ of that old pocket watch buried deep within his coat.

"Miku… I knew you'd be in danger the second you told me about the mice…" he whispered to her, "But seeing you safe… I've never been prouder of you."

Miku tried to control her emotions as she pulled closer to him. In all the madness of being caught in a foreign battle, of being far from her family, in all the uncertainty… just feeling her godfather holding her again assured her she was close to finding her way _home_.

Gakupo released Miku, motioning towards the massive workshop. "Come now, there's no reason for us to discuss serious matters in the cold! I'm certain there's still firewood in there, and I made sure to bring fresh food as well!"

* * *

 **A/N:**

Of course I didn't forget about Gakupo and Luka! Now that we've filled in everything that's gone between them (well, _almost_ everything!), they can join the cast proper instead of just inhabiting the flashbacks! Well okay, Luka didn't do much yet, but she will!

I have to say, this chapter was shaped by some feedback I got from Chapter 5. I was a lot more willing to allow Meiko to move forward, but several of the readers felt she got away too cleanly for how she treated Kaito in the past. I did in fact expect people to find Kaito's innocent forgiveness of her shocking, and not in a Mary Sue "too pure for this world" sense, but as the first hint that Kaito doesn't actually cope with misfortune in a healthy manner. But I did end up altering the scene with Miku and Meiko to try and address where she stands now and really, the more I thought on it, the more I realized that Miku isn't the type to just accept that because Kaito is fine with things, she has to be as well. It also let me get a stab at a meatier Meiko scene. So… thanks guys :) I really do read everything you say!

I swear finding songs that have been notably sung by Kaito, Miku, AND Meiko is impossible. I just gave up and went back to Miku songs that have notable covers by at least one of them. At least Meiko has significantly more duets with Kaito than Luka ever did.

 **Song Credits:** The first song is "La Noël Sucrée". Finally, an actual Vocaloid Christmas song (of course now it's January…) There's a nice Kaito cover floating around and someone on Youtube did a KaiMiku mashup. Nobody has done a Meiko version. "The Snow White Princess Is…", on the other hand, a Miku song with a _very_ popular Meiko cover and a more obscure "Another" version for a male singer that naturally does exist in a Kaito version. Actually, I really just wanted that song in this story no matter what because I love the Meiko cover so much. Miku and Meiko are singing lyrics from the original version, Kaito's lines are from the "Another" version (which actually turns _super_ dark at the end O_O)


	7. Chapter 7: The Fairy Tale

**Chapter 7: The Fairy Tale**

 _The stars twinkled around her, their unshifting locations forming into a great massive map. For thousands of years, these stars were her home, their presence an unchanging comfort to her. Yet now they were simply an impediment to her – an unreadable enigma keeping the secrets she needed to return to the world below again._

 _The difficulty of her task was trying to use that map to determine the most likely fate of one specific person. Fate was not as unchangeable as these stars, but it had paths of probability she could work with. Divining down to a single soul amongst the multitudes of others was the hard part._

 _She walked along the starry road in white dancing slippers, her short, soft dress and sheer knee-length tutu so similar to the one she wore in her brief time pretending to be a mortal and a ballerina… how she longed for the freedom of her stage again…_

 _She'd been warned before about trying to use the stars in such a manner. One person's fate could not be seen so easily, not when so many other fates intersected it. She'd made this mistake once already – in scrying the fate of a princess, she'd failed to foresee consequences for the one who tried to save her._

 _Now it was this poor soul she tried to find answers for. There was no magic she knew of that could be permanent. There was simply a serious of steps she needed to search for that lead to him being freed of it. The direction of his fate was not fixed, but a curse's solution was – even if it was nearly unreachable._

 _"Luka…"_

 _She turned her head to see a woman with blue hair, a white corset and short skirt, white gloves, and long white boots. "You still haven't given up on saving the Nutcracker?"_

 _The faerie's eyes turned back to the stars. "No."_

 _She saw no need to explain herself. Besides, she couldn't exactly answer why she had such an obsession in the first place._

 _The white diamond in the other girl's hair sparkled much like the stars above them. "You shouldn't blame yourself for what happens to the mortals. We aren't meant to be like them. That's why we live here."_

 _"The actions of mortals have consequences… as does our refusal to take responsibility."_

 _She had brought them both to this world, and in spite of so many happy times, they'd also suffered immeasurable pain._

 _"That man is my responsibility."_

 _"I thought we were simply meant to guide them…" the other fairy said, "Give them a path to this world and let them sort out what they'll do."_

 _Certainly that was **her** philosophy as well… in the past. Her emotions cloaked, her face a stoic mask. But after all that she had seen… she couldn't keep simply observing the world as if it wasn't part of her. As if she bore no responsibility for the actions of others._

 _"Why do you so favor that toymaker anyway?"_

 _She remained silent. She still didn't understand how to explain these emotions she felt around him. Why he made her act so peculiar, why she so eagerly engaged in physical intimacy with him, and why their separation made her feel so empty. She'd never experienced it before, and sometimes it frightened her as much as it thrilled her. None of her kin had experienced this… as far as she knew._

 _This was something **he** would understand._

 _But her last failure had hurt him beyond imagination._

 _Before the other faerie could press her for another response, she finally began to spy the patterns in the sky that she sought. The directions of the Nutcracker's fate. As she hoped, she began to see a path where he became human again. She tried to divine the swiftest permutation of that path. The constellations began to give away their secrets and she tried to witness the events and understand how they came to pass. Once, she saw him as a tiny doll, given to a human girl who cared for him… in another she saw the Mouse King and Queen fall at his hand… she saw him in another world, surrounded by other humans, yet somehow his face seemed devoid of his nearly permanent smile…_

 _For just a moment, she saw another fate intersect his… a tragic sorrow that wounded him…_

 _When she finally realized in all of these visions, she saw him **alone.**_

 _If she intended to free the Nutcracker, she would have to wait and discern the entire horoscope but… she had a horrible feeling if she waited that long, she might lose something precious again._

 _Without hesitation, her gaze broke with the stars. "You're leaving in the middle of your divination?" asked the diamond-haired fairy._

 _"Lapis… I must go back. I'm sorry. I have to find him."_

 _She clutched at the clockwork heart ticking in her jacket as she pursued the closest exit from the celestial road, her gown glowing as it billowed out into a long shirt and skirt, then a white coat and boots, and finally her winter cap…_

* * *

The inside of the workshop showed signs of disrepair from having sat unused for so long, though Miku thought it seemed better off than she would have expected. The structure remained sound, no major damage to the walls or pillars. Many of Gakupo's possessions lay scattered. Luka began to gather up some of the papers all over the floor and methodically filed them. "Wretched mice… I promise, Gakupo, the workshop was nice and tidy before I left to fetch you," she said.

Gakupo moved into his kitchen and began to set up the table and chairs again. "Not to worry, Sugar Plum," he said, "We both knew they'd probably try and take it for themselves again."

' _Sugar Plum_!?' Miku thought to herself. What kind of a nickname was _that!?_

"My goodness… you used to make _all_ of your contraptions in this place?" Meiko said as she ran a hand along a dusty fireplace.

"The factory should still run if the rodents didn't get down there!" Gakupo said, hauling over some firewood, "It's in the basement. I just hope the workers still function…"

"Wait… you have a _factory_ here?!"

Miku could barely contain her excitement. "Is this where you built things like James!?"

Gakupo had joined his "Sugar Plum" in helping to tidy up his home, but he stopped in his task on hearing the name of the bird. "You know about that little bird?! So, you went through Bonbon…"

Kaito clapped a hand to Miku's shoulder. "Miku _fixed_ James!" he said proudly.

At that the toymaker whistled. Miku traced her foot along the floorboards. "I just found one of those little pebbles was out of place and I gave it a nudge… it's not such a big deal…"

"But I never even told you what those were!" Gakupo said, as he walked over and ruffled Miku's bangs playfully, "You still worked it out on your own! Oh, and to think your mother was still poo-pooing your mechanical inclinations when I last saw her…"

"AH! Mother!"

On being reminded of her family again, Miku began to panic. "Gakupo, how are they holding up?! They must be so worried by now!"

Gakupo hesitated to answer. "Well, Miku… they… probably… still don't know you're gone."

Miku's jaw dropped. "I've been missing for two days and they haven't noticed!?"

Luka's amused laughter was the closest thing to an emotion Miku had yet seen from the strange woman. "Miku, what Gakupo is trying to say is… time doesn't pass the same way between this world and yours," she explained, "I went to go fetch him when I had a vision that Kaito was going to come back here… in this world, that was three months ago, but for me it was only a few moments in the World Beyond."

The toymaker's expression grew cloudy. "It's not a reliable passage though… sometimes very little time can pass here while the other world moves more quickly."

"So… I could have been gone even _longer?!_ " Miku gasped.

"Or you might have only been gone a few minutes," Gakupo said reassuringly, "Luka's generally good about guessing how the two worlds will align if she's given enough time to predict it."

Luka finished putting up the last of the papers. "If you want, Miku, I could probably send you home right now and it will have been merely an hour since your departure…"

Miku's relief over not worrying her family faded as she realized that _getting_ home was not her biggest obstacle. "Well, I'd certainly like to know they're all well but… until I break the Mouse Twins' curse, I don't think I can – "

" _What?!_ "

On hearing that, Gakupo began to poke and prod at his goddaughter looking for any signs of distress. "What did those awful things do to you?! Are you feeling well!? You're not stiff are you?!"

Miku slapped his hands away. "Ah, you're worse than Kaito! I tried to chase the mice out of my bedroom, and they put some kind of spell on me that made me smaller… and… now I can't sleep either…"

She stopped talking as suddenly the mysterious pink woman was leaning right over her shoulder. "Oh… she's right, there _is_ an enchantment upon her…" she murmured. Her entire attitude felt unnerving, as she still had that soft, stoic smile on her face even as she declared Miku under some kind of vile spell. At least she wasn't poking her all over like her godfather had just done. "Miku, did they say anything when they placed the enchantment?"

That night in her bedroom felt like years ago now… Miku took a deep breath as she recalled the Mouse Queen's foul threat. "They said they were going to turn me into a doll just like Kaito…"

"I see…"

Luka speaking in such a clinical tone now seemed a great deal more bizarre than "My guess… and this is _only_ a guess…" she finally said, "They're not powerful enough in the World Beyond to use all the magic they have here… so when they tried to turn you into a doll, the curse didn't have enough power to transform you into another being entirely… so you've just taken on some doll-like attributes instead."

"AH! Miku's not going to turn into doll now that she's HERE is she?!"

Kaito sounded utterly terrified at the prospect, his painted eyes wider than Miku had ever seen them. Miku looked hopefully to Luka for some answer, but her solid face gave away nothing. "I wouldn't think so… but I don't know anything for sure…"

As upset as Miku was at even thinking of the prospect, just seeing Kaito's comically panicked face made Miku decide to try and reassure him. "Don't worry, Kaito, now that we've found Gakupo, he might know how to fix me."

On hearing his name again, Gakupo nearly dropped the logs he'd been gathering for the great fireplace in his study. "Wait, was _that_ why you were seeking me out?"

"Well it _was_ you that derived the solution to _my_ curse!" Meiko said, putting her hands on her hips, "Surely you can figure out how to save Kaito and Miku too!"

The toymaker quietly began to settle the logs into the fireplace one at a time. "I'm a man of machines, not magic," he said quietly, "It was I who was supposed to keep the city protected from the mice when they issued their threats against the Princess. But they proved so much more resourceful than one man could manage – and their numbers were endless. When they finally found you and laid that curse… your father gave me just one fortnight to find a solution to your enchantment before he had me put to death."

On that grim pronouncement, Kaito let out a gasp. "You never told me anything about that!" he said, "Uncle, I would have worked twice as fast had I known your life was in danger!"

But Miku had seen that reassuring smile on Gakupo's face before, whenever he needed to calm a crying child. "Now Kaito, why would I have _ever_ told you something like that?" he said.

Meiko nervously placed a gloved hand to her chest. "I had no inkling of what he'd done to you…" she said somberly, "I guess it explains why he had you examine me but… even so, you're the one who presented the successful plan to him and found the nut and…"

"I did _nothing._ "

And all at once an altogether unfamiliar harsh tone crept into the toymaker's voice as he spat out those words. Miku had never so much as heard her godfather slightly lose his temper – even the most trying situations she could recall, he found a way to maintain his cool.

'But I never saw him every day… who knows how much he would keep from us when he needn't worry about us…' Miku assured herself.

He grabbed for some tinder as he finished up his log pile. "It was Luka who spent every second of those precious days reading the Princess' horoscope. At the eleventh hour, it was she told me of an uncrackable nut that could only be found and opened by a person with a pure heart. That bought me some more time to at least try and find both nut and boy but… Kaito did that on his own."

Now both Miku and Meiko were staring at the soft-spoken, enigmatic woman. "Luka… you know so much about magic… you can read the stars… are you… a faerie?" Meiko asked.

On hearing her true title, Luka politely curtsied. Meiko turned pale white and promptly fell to her knees. "I… I had no idea! Please forgive my impertinence!"

Miku wasn't entirely sure how to react either – her image of faeries were of delicate little creatures who zoomed through fields of flowers as they laughed joyously. Yet Luka seemed altogether different now – her detachment the expected result of being a creature of such great power and consequence surrounded by seemingly lesser creatures. Then again… hadn't Gakupo told her a story about a faerie once, to accompany one of his Christmas toys?

Before that story could be fully recalled, Kaito's laughter broke up her thoughts. "Meiko, it's okay! Auntie Luka isn't so formal like that!"

Meiko's cheeks turned bright scarlet and she hopped back to her feet. "AUNTIE?!" she sputtered, "I… I…. Kaito, you never told me your uncle was involved with a faerie!"

The nutcracker's laughter slowly died down. "You never asked!" he said.

"I chose to live amongst mortals of my own will," Luka said calmly, and now to Miku her every word seemed to carry so much more weight, "I never wished for others to know of my true origins."

As the faerie turned her head to Kaito, Miku finally detected a crack in her façade. "Kaito, as for your …condition… in Gakupo's absence, I did learn part of what you must do to finally rid yourself of this enchantment. But I warn you, the task you must complete is quite daunting."

Kaito's blocky hands were balled up into blocky fists. "I'll do anything I have to do!"

"You must defeat the King and Queen of Mice."

Silence settled over the assembled individuals as the weight of the task sank in. "They're always surrounded by their armies… the King's swordplay is second to none, and the Queen's magic is so terrible…" he murmured.

His wooden body began to slump. After a few moments though, he straightened up. "Well then, I'm sure it won't be easy, but I'm sure killing them will solve everything! I'll work as hard as I can!"

He turned to Miku and suddenly his smile was as innocent as ever. "Miku, maybe that will break your spell too!"

While Miku tried to grant him a brave smile, the lack of certainty to _her_ situation didn't entirely reassure her. She'd come so far and they still had no answers for her? Home seemed so much farther away now than ever…

"Even if it doesn't save you Miku," Gakupo added, "We won't get far ending _your_ enchantment if they're still bearing down on us at all hours of the day!"

The fireplace roared with fresh flames, the heat a welcome addition to the cold room. "And don't you fret, I won't be going anywhere until we DO help you. Do you think your mother would ever let me hear the end of it if I let you go running around a candy kingdom by yourself?"

As Gakupo turned back away from the flames, Miku saw that a sparkle had returned to his eye. "Now, enough of this dreary business! You know, Miku, I'm pretty sure the assembly is still in good repair… would you like to see a real toy shop? I need to make sure the mice didn't get in there… and I've got plenty of things stashed down there you never would have been able to see back home!"

"New… toys!? Right in the factory?!"

Now it was _Miku's_ turn for something exciting to happen. "You're finally letting me see all your secrets?! With all the mechanics and the prototypes and those glowing nodes and…"

Miku stopped at once when Kaito started to laugh at her over the top burst of excitement. She tried to calm herself. "Ah… I'd love to…" she said, blushing brightly.

"Gakupo, I'll go back and fetch our sled," Luka said calmly, "We need to get those supplies ready."

"AH! Miss Luka!" Meiko said a little too quickly, "It would only be right if I were to accompany you! As… your… protector!"

The faerie's confusion didn't seem to dissuade a drop of Meiko's enthusiasm. "You're certainly welcome to…" she said.

'I hope Meiko doesn't talk her ear off…' Miku thought to herself.

* * *

"Good… the lock is intact… that means they didn't get at the factory proper…"

Miku tried to contain her excitement as she watched Gakupo turn a few cogs on a great steel door, humming to himself as he did so. Kaito had quickly followed the both of them into the basement – no great surprise. Miku suspected after being separated from his uncle so long, Kaito didn't want to stray too far from him.

Right now, she didn't want to stay too far from him either… not when he was about to share some truly mind-blowing secrets with her!

Once they were in the correct position, the great door pulled back…

Miku had never seen such a colorful factory. In one corner were shelves upon shelves of books and papers, a desk with half-finished plans laying atop it. There were several massive conveyor belts, surrounded by mechanical harnesses and arms. Miku guessed these were meant for mass production, but she tried to imagine how many people would have been needed to manipulate them. Several workbenches abounded – likely for custom work. At the back of the room was another door – not nearly as tightly secured, so she guessed that meant it wasn't easily accessible from the outside.

"Gakupo, did you used to have people working here for you?" Miku asked, "Besides Kaito I mean…"

"Back in the castle, I employed a number of dolls for operating the machinery… but for here, I did something better!" he said with a laugh, "I created clockwork people that could perform simpler tasks… that's what drew the attention of the King in the first place."

At that Miku started. "Clockwork _people_?!"

Even as she spoke in doubt, Gakupo wandered over to an unfinished chassis with a humanoid shape. "Indeed… early on, I wanted to keep as much of the process to myself as possible. Besides, the invention could work wonders!" he said, running his gloved hands along the metallic creation, "Think of the labor that could be saved! I know the humans here think of dolls as cheap labor, but they have lives too! I thought if I could empower them to be more independent, they'd have some leverage with the human kingdom and villages…"

"Miku, you should have seen them!" Kaito said with excitement in his voice, "Gakupo could get them to run around and dance and even play music! And when he had the forges running, he could roll them out in the blink of an eye! He was working on soldiers too… a long time ago…"

Gakupo coughed. "I'll check the back storage room to see what we still have left. I'm certain I can trust the two you to take stock of what's left?"

"Don't worry, uncle, you can count on us!" Kaito said, saluting so hard that Miku heard his hand knock against his forehead. She tried to suppress a laugh.

As Miku wandered around the factory, she observed plenty of supplies left – great steel girders, dozens of gears of assorted sizes. "Kaito, if Gakupo was the royal toymaker, why is there still so much here?"

Kaito wandered back to look at a collection of old wires and rods. "He used to come back out here from time to time," he began to explain, "He liked the privacy. The last time he was out here, in fact, was when he was trying to build his clockwork cats…"

"AH! He built them _here_?!"

At once Miku remembered the simple toy in her home… now she was eagerly searching for more, but if there were any more toy felines in the shop, they were hidden from her sight…

"Well, more complex than the one you had in your bedroom…"

Miku kept trying to mentally inventory everything in front of her, but finally she began to search for some paper and a pen to record them more formally. "So Kaito, is anything _you_ worked on here?"

She heard Kaito grunting and the sound of metal pieces shifting around. "Ah! Well… I didn't take notes the way Uncle does… when we moved out of the workshop, I took them with me."

Quietly she counted out metal sheets, girders, gears… it didn't exactly feel like a workshop that Gakupo never expected to use again. 'Perhaps he was worried it wouldn't work out for him?' she thought to herself.

"What kind of toys did you like to make?" she asked cheerfully, just happy she was keeping him talking about something less daunting than the massive task Luka laid out for him.

"Oh… I really wanted to make a toy musician!" Kaito said, panting all of a sudden, "Gakupo had those life-size band automatons, but I wanted something you could carry around and sing with whenever you wanted! Except they were always out of tune… I never got them to play the melodies right and – "

A loud metallic clang sounded out in the workshop and Miku jumped. She turned to see Kaito tangled in dozens of electrical wires hanging from the ceiling. He resembled a marionette twisted up in its own strings as he struggled to get his body loose again. Once he realized Miku was watching, he gave her a sheepish smile. "Umm... I think I need a little help here…"

Taking stock of Kaito's predicament, she couldn't believe how thoroughly he'd tied himself up – wires wrapped around every limb, holding him in place. "How did this happen!?" she exclaimed.

"Umm…. I didn't really… notice them at first… once I finally realized I was getting wrapped up, I tried to fix it but… well…"

'Right… he wouldn't have noticed the wires getting so tight until they stopped him from moving…' she thought to herself, trying to loosen up some of the wires around one of his arms. But Kaito had gotten himself spun up but good. She looked at his bound arm, trying so solve the conundrum when an odd idea flew into her head…

"AH! Kaito, I've been meaning to ask but… well… do your arms come off?"

Kaito looked rather surprised but as his painted eyes spotted Miku wrestling with the wiring around his limb, he seemed to understand. "I think they might! Here, let me just grab onto something…"

He managed to get his left hand tightly gripped around one of the metal pillars in the workshop. "Okay, I'll stay put. I'm sure it won't hurt!"

Miku rolled Kaito's long sleeve up just enough to get a solid grip on the wooden limb just above the joint at his elbow. She gave a careful tug…

POP! Kaito's right arm slipped out of its socket, the loose wiring falling as she started to wiggle it loose from its trappings.

'I should really be more creeped out by this…' she thought as she carefully tugged the detached limb through the wiring, 'At least he isn't hurt by it.'

"I can't believe that worked…" Kaito said in amazement, "I never exactly _wanted_ to try tearing my arms and legs off like that but I was kind of curious too…"

"All right, that's the first arm…" Miku said, trying to stay calm, "Now, the left."

She set his free arm to the floor and tried to tug at the other arm the same way. Kaito's body began to sway more wildly without another arm to anchor him. Miku felt her footing slip as the two crashed into each other, yanking the wires down on top of them…

As Miku hit the floor, she felt Kaito's still-attached arm holding her tightly. She opened her eyes and saw herself just an inch from his face, lying on top of him as the loose wiring draped over both the girl and her nutcracker. She held her breath as Kaito stared up at her in worry. "Miku, Miku are you okay?!"

For just a moment, Miku thought his eyes, painted though they were, were the loveliest shade of blue she'd ever seen…

Awareness of her situation kicked in and Miku almost sprang up right that moment. But logic won out – she still needed to help Kaito. She leaned up slowly, trying to keep herself from becoming tangled in wires herself. Kaito shook his arm loose – the force of the fall unplugged enough of the cords that he could free himself now. "Okay, I think I'm ready for my other arm now!" he said with a grin.

Quietly, Miku handed him back his arm and Kaito carefully popped it back into his shoulder socket. He gave his arm a good shake, checking each of his fingers and smiling. "There, now I'm re-armed! Miku, you always have the best ideas!"

'Why can't I talk? I can't even laugh at his little joke? Kaito, what are you doing to me?'

Kaito approached Miku carefully. "Miku… I've been thinking… about what Luka said I need to do to free myself… I promise I'll kill the Mouse King and Queen. For you, I'll become strong enough to defeat them for good."

Her nerves caught fire again. 'Kaito, stop it! I feel like my heart's going to explode! I don't know what to say to you when you're like this…'

But as she imagined Kaito throwing himself in front of her in the heat of battle… words _did_ finally come to her. "Kaito, I don't want you to promise me that. I want you to promise me you'll protect yourself. That you're not going to get killed or… or…. Fall asleep again."

"Oh, that's all? Sure I will!"

He said it so flippantly… did he not think himself _capable_ of dying?!

"Kaito!" Miku said, getting angry, "I mean it! You… I can't… I don't want to go back home without my Nutcracker! I care about that more than I care about whether a bunch of mice live or die!"

Kaito put one of his hands on Miku's shoulder. She knew he couldn't feel her… so that meant he was doing this entirely to try and calm her. "Miku… I promise, I'll protect myself too. So when we're both free from all this magic, I can see your home again, for real."

Again, Miku fell silent as her nutcracker just stared ahead at her. What did she really want to say to him?

"Miku! Come on back here, you'll love this!"

Gakupo called from far off, but thankfully his voice indicated he was too far to have seen what was happening. Slowly Kaito's hand slipped from her shoulder. "You don't want to keep him waiting," Kaito said with a soft smile.

Quietly, Miku nodded. As she turned to leave, Kaito's voice suddenly stopped her. "Ah! M-M-Miku… um… you remember, back in Bonbon? What we were talking about while you were fixing James?"

Before Miku could even answer, Kaito stammered "Ummm… you said I was handsome. I mean, for a nutcracker, I was handsome."

"Yes… I meant it too, Kaito," Miku said, now far more aware of how much that particular conversation likely meant to him now that he knew about his true past.

But that didn't seem to calm him, his painted eyes darting around the room. "W… well… I just wanted to say that… you… you're also… p… pre…."

All at once whatever nerve the doll still possessed vanished. "AH! I'm going to go upstairs and help out Meiko and Auntie Luka!" he shouted, turning and running away, his wooden footsteps heralding his exit as he ran back up the stairs.

Miku tried to calm herself before she chased after Gakupo. The last thing she wanted was for her godfather to see how flustered his nephew had made her.

* * *

Kaito skittered upstairs, trying to compose himself before he marched into the living area…

Luka and Meiko were nowhere to be found. He leaned against a wall in relief. 'What's coming over me?' he thought to himself, 'All of sudden it got so hard to talk to Miku…'

He placed a wooden hand over his chest, patting it as though he still had a heart in there. He stared down at his hand, realizing how silly he must have looked. Ever since he'd started to remember his previous human existence, he kept finding himself adopting more and more human habits. None of which worked – he couldn't feel Miku if he touched her, he couldn't even remember what warmth felt like any longer.

He found himself wanting to do more than just put his hand on her shoulder, but that required warm blood, a working face…

He straightened up as he heard Meiko's voice just outside and pulled himself together. 'I have to keep up a straight face! They're counting on me to kill the mice after all!'

"… ah, and I loved your performance as the swan! Does it even hurt to stand on your toes for so long like that?!"

Luka and Meiko rode up to the house on a sleigh pulled by a clockwork horse. Kaito spied the pile of new materials in back – his uncle hadn't wasted even a moment since arriving! As Kaito walked outside, Luka waved to him genially. "Kaito, your timing is excellent. Could you aid the two of us in unloading these supplies?"

He found his smile at once and ran over. "Anything you need, Auntie Luka!"

In all the panic over trying to remember his family, he'd barely remembered the kind if standoffish faerie who'd been such a fixture in his life. As frigid as she seemed to be with the sudden influx of strangers, she still seemed to have a genuine smile for him. 'I hope I didn't worry her too much…' he thought to himself.

He pulled back a tarp and started to pick up one of the large crates stacked in the back. "Where was he keeping these?" Kaito asked, "I thought everything was in the workshop…"

"While you and Gakupo were gone, I made contact with some of his old workers and they helped me smuggle some of his old materials out," Luka said calmly, as if such a daring act of theft were as trivial as speaking of the snow fall, "Most of them are drafted in the war now though… this was what I could acquire on my own."

Meiko hesitated on Luka's words before she gingerly picked up a box for herself. "Just stack these near the door…" Luka continued, "Once Gakupo's done in the basement, he'll open up the door so we can get them down."

Luka started to unload a few small boxes. "Luka, is that more stardust?" Kaito asked, recognizing the unusual runes.

"Stardust?" Meiko asked in confusion.

"It's Gakupo's secret weapon in his toymaking," Luka explained, "He had the idea years ago that if he had some way to add magic to the toys, they could perform more complex tasks."

Meiko nearly dropped the box right there. "And the faeries are okay with you just giving that to him?!"

Luka's enigmatic smile hid her emotions as usual. Even as many times as Kaito had seen her, she rarely allowed anyone a glimpse of her true state of mind.

Except for Gakupo.

Whenever she was with him, her face animated with a wide palette of emotions, her words easy and free.

"So… are you and Drosselmeyer… well… married?" Meiko asked nervously.

Luka looked surprised, but not embarrassed. "We're supposed to be?" she said out of curiosity.

"I call Luka 'Auntie' because of how long I've known her!" Kaito said proudly. He gave his head a solid knock with his knuckles. "I'm glad I'm starting to remember her again too!"

But that only dragged up another question, one that had lingered for the Nutcracker since the trip through the Crystalline Cavern. A question a faerie could answer.

"Ah, Luka… well, I kind of lost my memories before. And I'm only just starting to get them all back."

At that Luka showed the hints of surprise. "That shouldn't have happened, Kaito. Your curse was only meant to give you a doll's body."

That wasn't what he needed to hear. "I was hoping maybe you knew how it happened… I still don't remember a lot of my past… I don't even remember why I 'fell asleep'."

She pressed a gloved hand to her chest on hearing him speak like that. "I… wasn't present. Neither was Gakupo. You were already a small doll then, and all I could tell your godfather was that he needed to give you away to the first child that asked for you."

"AH! That was MIKU!" he exclaimed, "I woke up at Miku's house, in her arms!"

So it wasn't just a coincidence – or so he hoped.

"Do you know anything else!? I'm not going to fall asleep again, am I?!"

Luka pursed her lips, falling silent. Now Kaito _knew_ she had a secret. "Ahhhh, this isn't faerie business, Luka, it's about me! I can't turn back into a little doll again if I'm supposed to kill the King and Queen!"

Before she could say another word, the voice of a young girl broke out over the snowfield. "Officer! Officer! Please, wait up!"

Kaito put a hand on his weapon out of reflex as he looked out and saw a young female doll with short green hair and wearing in a uniform like his – white with a blue sash. Her face and hands appeared to be made of rubber, but the rest of her body was white cloth. "Please, we must warn the company! The mice are coming!"

Kaito looked behind him as Meiko stood stock still, not even allowing herself to speak. Finally the girl made it up to Meiko and gave her a salute. "Officer, I promise, I didn't desert! I got separated in the last battle, I promise! But I have important intelligence on the movements of the Mouse King and Queen!"

Meiko stared at the girl dumbstruck. Did she not know who she was?!

"Um… yes, well, I…"

She suddenly regained her proper bearings and stared the girl down as if she were in fact a commanding officer. "We were just trying to find them ourselves. Please, private…"

"Gumi! Private Gumi!"

"Please deliver your report at once!"

* * *

"Stardust… so that's what those funny nodes were…"

Miku stood hunched over a box filled with glowing powder. "Isn't that kind of cheating though?"

Gakupo chuckled. "It still took a great deal of work to figure out how to forge them correctly," he explained, "If I didn't have Luka, I'd have been completely lost."

He closed the box carefully. "Once Luka brings in what I need… I'm hoping to be able to get another unit of soldiers activated…"

He gestured to the several rows of inactive clockwork soldiers standing around him. "That might be enough to get us closer to the Mouse King and Queen…"

Miku couldn't imagine what they'd look like in motion. To her they seemed like life-size equivalents of Mikuo's toys, but the way Gakupo was describing them, they could possibly be even more impressive once he wound them up.

"I'd love to make something like these someday…" Miku said in awe.

Her godfather laughed. "When we have this mouse business settled… I'll crack one open and let you tinker with it."

"Really?!" Miku had already seen the inside of James, and that was a much smaller simpler toy. She could already imagine the way Gakupo would have lined up the mechanisms, the places where the nodes might need to go to animate them… oh, she already had some ideas of her own she wanted to try…

… would she be able to do any of that when she went home?

"If you can talk mother into it, I'd love to," she said in a more guarded manner.

Her godfather patted her on the shoulder. "She's just worried about you. She wants you to be able to take care of yourself."

She tried not to scowl at that worn explanation. She'd hoped for less platitudes from Gakupo of all people.

"Even so… just because the place we came from has rules that tell you your place, doesn't mean you have to follow them…" he continued, his eyes casting about his workshop as they shone with pride, "There are places you can go to become the person you wish to be if you're willing to give up certain comforts."

He began to fall silent, the only sound audible to Miku being the ticking of his pocket watch. "Just… try not to give up too much…"

He stared quietly at the closest soldier to his position, until finally Miku felt she needed to intervene. "Gakupo… I saw what happened to Kaito. With Princess Pirlipat and everything. We got caught in the caverns and…"

She swallowed. "I'm sorry you had to suffer through that."

The toymaker lightly placed his hand on the shoulder of one of his creations. "It's been more than fifteen years since I last saw him alive… I'm certain I have you to thank for that."

His heavy voice hung over his weary smile as he traced a finger along his creation's face. "How could it have been so long?" Miku asked, "Even Meiko isn't that old… is it because of the time thing again?"

"I spoke with Luka, and it had only been a year in this world. For her, it may have felt an eternity to have lost me for even that period of time, but imagine how long it was for myself!"

He released the clockwork soldier and began to wander down the hall, Miku keeping close to him. "Miku, I need to warn you. This is a world where wonderful things can happen. I was a man of no means and no future when I came here… decades ago. Before you were even born."

"So you're… immortal now?!" She always knew her godfather was older than he looked, but this was a bit more than she'd anticipated.

He let out a slight laugh. "Not exactly… but I have cheated death far longer than I would have where I came from."

Miku swallowed. "So… is Kaito like you too?"

A slight nod of the toymaker's head. "He'd already slowed down his aging as he approached adulthood. I'm not sure what would have happened had I brought him here even younger than that."

He began to walk across the basement to another set of dolls. Miku followed him, enamored of the idea that her godfather was finally speaking plainly about his seemingly impossible life story. "So… did Luka use some kind of faerie magic to make you two age slower?"

The idea of Gakupo having hidden so much that he even concealed a _lover_ from her still seemed so shocking. "No… it's just the magic of this world, holding us in place as it weaves around us…" Gakupo said whimsically, "I'm sorry you had to meet Luka under these awful circumstances. I'd hoped someday to introduce the two of you in peace. She's a little quiet with people she doesn't know, but that's just how faeries tend to be. She's truly a gem from the heavens…"

' _Quiet_ doesn't begin to describe her,' Miku thought to herself. "And… Kaito calls her 'Auntie'?" Miku teased, "Is there anything else I need to know about you two?"

Gakupo let out a nervous cough, but the rosy color in his cheeks gave away his true feelings. "We've… ah… well, we haven't seen much of each other in the last fifteen years… but I've never really stopped thinking about her. I'm rather flattered she said the same thing to me…"

She thought she saw him tapping his chest right where his pocket watch was. "Gakupo," Miku said in a sing song voice, "That watch of yours isn't from _her_ is it?"

She thought she'd see him blush again, but he seemed to stop being flustered at that very moment. "It's… a long story. One I don't think I feel like telling right now," he said curtly.

Gakupo fell silent so quickly Miku was afraid she'd offended him somehow as he wandered around examining his soldiers.

"Kaito seems to be getting along with you all right," he said suddenly.

'GRK!'

She didn't want to talk too much about this with Kaito's _uncle_ of all people. "What do you think of him though? You seem to speak so rarely of yourself these days."

"Ah… yes, he's very kind. He's stronger than he looks too."

She thought back to the strange couple of days she'd spent at Kaito's side. It seemed like one was always rescuing the other. If she ever felt alone, Kaito was there to cheer her up. If Kaito was about to crumble under the weight of his burdens, she wanted to lift him up. And no matter how hard the mice kept trying to hurt them, they always drove them off.

Together.

"He loved to play with toys. He loved every day in this shop. Even more so in the castle when he was surrounded by people."

Gakupo adjusted a sash that was out of place on one of his soldiers. "But one day he wanted to be a soldier… and I could never refuse him his wishes. So I started to build toys for war to try and keep him safe."

Miku swallowed. "So I guess Mikuo and I were kind of replacements for Kaito…"

Her godfather's brow furrowed. "What in the world would give you a notion like that?" he said.

He turned from his clockwork creation and began to approach Miku. "You and your brother mean as much to me as Kaito does," he said sternly, "Your mother and father lent me the money I needed to start my business back home, and I used that to keep travelling until I found a way to free him. But I always felt so very blessed that they allowed me to be part of their family. And don't think for a moment that I'm not going to work to free you just as hard as I have to free Kaito."

As another melancholy smile spread on Gakupo's face, she thought he seemed so much older now. His face was a youthful as ever, but his entire manner seemed to show the weight of years of burdens he carried without complaint. "I lost my nephew for so very long… but I could always cheer myself up by thinking of how wonderful it would be when he was alive again and he could finally meet you and Mikuo…"

Miku watched as Gakupo approached what looked to be a clockwork humanoid family, an older man with black hair pulled into a ponytail and his "wife", a young woman with red hair cascading down her shoulders. He softly stroked the brown hair of a young girl who still looked barely a teenager. "But this world… as beautiful and wonderful and magical as it is, it is _very_ dangerous for people like us. If you lose sight of yourself, your identity, your goals, your old home… that same magic can break you until you forget who or what you were."

"UNCLE! UNCLE!"

The sound of Kaito's voice echoing through the house upstairs drew both of them out of reminiscing. Miku departed the storage area with quick steps, just as she saw Kaito came pounding down the stairs. "The Mice! They're setting a trap for the royal army! They're going to be torn apart!"

"Gakupo! Talk some sense into him!"

Meiko came stomping down the steps. "Kaito's blathering on about trying to take on the mice himself!" she said, "You must talk him out of this foolishness!"

For the first time, Miku saw Kaito actually get angry. "I have to beat them!" he protested, "It's my destiny, and I can't run away from it anymore!"

The chaos only increased as Kaito and Meiko got knocked down the remaining stairs by the sudden arrival of another person, landing in a great pile of dolls and people. At last Luka walked down carefully, without any undue haste, staring at the pile with bemusement. The new arrival, a rubber and cloth doll with green hair and a soldier's uniform pushed herself up off of Kaito. "S-sorry! I just wanted to see if…"

"Gumi?"

Gakupo calmly entered the factory, and on just hearing him say her name, Gumi stood up at rigid attention. "AH! It IS Sir Drosselmeyer! Oh, what good fortune!"

She gave him a peppy salute. "And how kind of you to remember even the lowliest of the Gearbolt Girls!"

"Gearbolt Girls?" Miku asked in confusion.

The toymaker chuckled. "I took in a number of doll apprentices for manufacturing," he explained, "Since they were all women, they called themselves the Gearbolt Girls. And of course I remember every one of you!"

Gumi's excitement at being so acknowledged only seemed to increase – and to Miku, it spoke highly of his opinion of them given how long it had been for Gakupo since he'd seen her. "Oh, oh, oh, now it doesn't all feel so hopeless! Lord Drosselmeyer, you're supposed to be a legendary military commander, I'm sure you can come up with a PERFECT strategy!"

On hearing such a bold proclamation, Gakupo took a few steps back. "I… I never made it past Lieutenant…" he stuttered, "I can provide the automatons, but we don't have enough to bear down on an entire army!"

"Well we have to do SOMETHING!" Kaito said as he helped Meiko up – Miku winced as she realized Meiko had landed on the bottom of the pile, and she was the only one that could feel pain. "What if we don't get another chance?!"

Miku looked back to the storage room filled with automatons. "Gakupo… we don't have to beat the whole army… we just need to get the King and Queen… if we cut them down when they least expect us, maybe that will disperse the rest of the mice as well?"

Gakupo looked up to her with a dangerous smile. " _That_ I can give us a formation to accomplish," he said. "All right then… Miku, Gumi, help me wind the keys! Kaito, help get the basement door open! Meiko, get the sleigh cleared out so we can leave at a moment's notice!"

A bright flash briefly illuminated the basement as Luka summoned a small white orb of light into her hands. "I'll ensure there are no disruptions from the mice."

The faerie's smile had completely disappeared, her last words taking a rough edge. Clearly past experience with the mice had taxed even Luka's great wells of patience.

As everyone split up to their appointed tasks, Gakupo touched Miku on the shoulder. "Miku… I promise I am going to do everything I can. But I wasn't lying to you before."

She'd never seen Gakupo so deathly serious. "I cannot help Kaito - only you can do that. Be faithful and strong."

* * *

As the sleigh bolted through the snow at an unnatural speed, Miku still couldn't stop thinking about Gakupo's cryptic warning to her. What did he expect her to do? Gakupo was a trained soldier – fearless in battle. He had a small army he'd constructed to support him. She had nothing to offer.

She looked up to Kaito, whose only focus appeared to be the battle ahead. How was she supposed to help him? She was always getting beaten back in fights…

"Ahhh… at first I was afraid you guys were deserters…" Gumi moaned, "Every fight with these monsters is just worse and worse…"

She started nibbling on her little rubber finger tips. "Aren't you a soldier?" Miku asked.

Gumi her hands together. "I was apprenticing in a candy shop after Sir Drosselmeyer disappeared…" she said sadly, "But… well… the war's gone so poorly. They needed as many dolls as possible to sign up. So… I kind of got drafted, actually."

She clutched the sides of her head and let out an overdramatic wail. "AHHHH! I'm not a soldier, I only overheard the mice because I played DEAD!"

Miku reflexively put a hand on Gumi's shoulder to comfort her before she remembered Gumi couldn't feel it. "It's okay to be scared…" she said, "The King and Queen are really frightening…"

Gumi's rubber eyelids fell closed. "I don't to die out there… I just want the mice to go away… if I go back… if _any_ of us go back… the king will…"

Meiko let out a loud huff at the reigns of the horses. "The King will not be permitted any more of these transgressions," she muttered under her breath.

"Gumi…" Gakupo said calmly, "A long time ago, when I was a soldier… I would sing before a battle to calm myself."

Kaito tried his best to smile for the nervous girl with that odd wooden mouth of his. "Uncle's right! What's your favorite song?"

Gumi kept her eyes closed, but slowly she began to sing on the back of the sleigh.

 _"A morning mist like that one day comes into view. My legs caught on each other, and you took my hand."_

She sounded so nervous at first, her voice shaky and unsteady as the sleigh raced through the trees.

 _"Do you remember your unsolved magical fairytale? Its continuation still... Mm, I'll tell it again, 'kay."_

Her voice sounded so soft and fragile, but finally steadier.

 _"So a couple floating in a dark see wouldn't be lonely, God surely, for just a little bit, surely permitted the time…"_

As Gumi's confidence built up, her voice grew louder.

 _"Responding to the monogram of the overlapping stars, you are coming! Raise your voice above the orbit!"_

Miku listened carefully to Gumi's song, trying to draw inspiration from it herself. She looked ahead and saw the signs of dolls and mice clashing out in the snow.

 _"I've continued to yearn for the sparkling of yours only! Despite being unable to return to that time that passed, pure white as it was."_

Miku saw _him_ again and clenched her sword tight. Len the Mouse King, chopping at dolls like they were nothing. To her relief, she saw no further signs of the Queen. She saw the clockwork soldiers running behind the sleigh, slowly overtaking it with frightening speed. "When they get ahead of us…" Gakupo said, "we pulled the sleigh up towards him and try to get at him first…"

Meiko tried to pull the sleigh into a flanking position – the mice were trying to tear apart the dolls, and by sheer number… they were winning.

 _"Since I can't shine alone, there's a continuation to your fairy tale. Listen up!"_

Gumi gripped her own weapon closer, but kept her song steady.

 _"Our overlapping pulses teach us of the sparkling of our lives! Even if you receive someone's love, it won't vanish!"_

The soldiers leapt out ahead of the sleigh. Kaito looked Miku straight in the eye… and smiled for her. "I won't break my promise, Miku… I'll save you… and I won't die…"

 _"If I see off the stars that're going away after a few seconds, I mean, since we'll meet even after several thousand years pass, it's that sort of a story."_

Miku recalled Gakupo's warning to her. As Kaito prepared to leap from the sleigh, she grabbed his hand. "I won't abandon you. My Nutcracker."

 _"It's a promise. It's a promise."_

Kaito held Miku's hand tightly and they jumped into the chaos of the battlefield together…

* * *

 **A/N:**

Sorry for the brief delay. It's still Friday, but I made heavier edits to the chapter than I normally do over the last week and I figured the extra time would be necessary to clean everything up rather than rush it out by the stroke of midnight.

I wasn't originally going to cut away AT the start of the battle, but then it was nearing 9000 words and yea, we had a lot to cover. So I'll announce officially that while I planned the story to have 10 chapters, it is now being extended to 11. The plan I laid out changed up a little – the beats are the same, but I learned from Broken Wings that I can't let characters fall to the side just to press the plot forward faster.

You guys have no idea how close Gumi came to not being in the story… but I knew she had to show up. I love writing her and people love reading about her. When I ended up replotting part of the final chapters of the story, I found a very natural place for her to enter the narrative and finally, after three stories, even get a song!

One of the fun things about this story has been my exhaustive research into dolls from the 19th century! Plastic wasn't even commercially viable until the 20th century, let alone used for dolls. But I have gotten to learn about all kind of ways dolls were made even as mass produced toys came into existence. Rubber dolls, like Gumi is here, were popular for a while since they weren't as fragile but could be made to have more lifelike faces. I realize I could do whatever I want, this being a fairy tale, but locking the time period down at least to the right century was something I wanted to commit to.

 **Song Credits** : Gumi sang "Fairytale" to calm herself. It's a Gumi V3 original song that's actually better known for cillia's VY1v4 cover because of the impressive addition of the V4 growls and crossfades to add more of an emotional punch. I actually did find a Gumi V4 cover that made use of the same techniques and I based her performance on that version. The lyrics are the ones used in the PV, so all translation issues, blame them :P Gumi was actually kind of hard to find songs for her because her really popular ones are either super cute or really weird. If you guys ever wonder why she's normally pretty off the wall in my stories, that's why.


	8. Chapter 8: The Clockwork Man

**Chapter 8: The Clockwork Man**

The battlefield swarmed with hundreds of soldiers, dolls trying valiantly to stand up to their sudden ambush, and mice utterly overwhelming them. Miku tried to keep a steady eye on Kaito, trying to ignore the chaos around her. She could hear the carbine fire from the doll soldiers, but the mice appeared to favor melee weaponry. Their sheer numbers tended to mean bullets alone weren't holding back their waves.

"How are we supposed to keep up with them in this ruckus?!" Meiko shouted, her sword drawn, "We need to reach the king if Kaito's to deliver the killing blow!"

If Kaito had any reservations about his task, Miku didn't see any remaining. His hand slipped from hers and to his weapon.

"We cut a path to him!" Gakupo replied, "Kaito has to be the one to defeat them, but we can still help keep him alive!"

Miku steadied her shaking hand. She'd made a promise to herself to see the battle through – she was no longer allowing herself to be scared. She watched the small contingent of Gakupo's clockwork soldiers move away from them to join the dolls. He'd warned them ahead of time that the simple commands he could give them wouldn't be much use against the crafty Mouse Royals, so he'd dispatched them to try and thin out the army itself. Anything to peel some of the King's guards from his side.

"Gakupo, I don't see the Queen!" Luka cried out, "Just the King!"

"The Queen is the one we _really_ need to worry about," Meiko warned, "You've never seen sorcery like hers… no offense, Luka…"

"None taken," Luka replied, "I shall do my best to provide a worthy counter-balance."

"Meiko, Gumi, help me protect Luka and she'll cut us a path!" Gakupo ordered, "Kaito, take the advantage when you get it!"

'Wait… what about me!?' Miku thought in a panic.

Gumi looked surprised. "You… you think I can, Sir Drosselmeyer?" she said nervously.

He shot her a wink and a smile. "After hearing your brave ballad, I _know_ you can!"

Miku watched as suddenly the doll's rubber face grew more and more excited, the eyelids opening all the way and the mouth curling into a goofy smile. "YES SIR! I'll kill a HUNDRED mice for us!"

The three of them began to surround Luka and Miku wondered what she was about to do. She _was_ a faerie… she must had some kind of powers she could wield in their favor…

Luka began to move around as though she were dancing – she recognized the initial foot positions from her most basic ballet lessons. The faerie raised her arms above her head, her arms moving delicately as she summoned an orb of white light between her hands. 'Wait… is she such a good ballerina because she's a magic user?!'

Several small light orbs flew from the orb in the faerie's hands, shooting straight up into the sky before crashing into the ground again. A serious of explosions sounded out around them, as if stars were falling out of the sky themselves. "BY THE HEAVENS!" Meiko shouted.

Puffs of smoke surrounded her as the mice vanished at once. Luka leapt through the snow, tracing her hands through the air as she kept the orb steady and this time Miku could see white traces of light where she swept her arms around rhythmically.

"Just stay close to me!" Luka called out, "I'll protect you as long as I can!"

"Does she even need our help!?" Meiko cried out.

"She can't keep this up forever," Gakupo explained.

"AhhhhHHHHH! I know that _I_ can! Down you miserable rodents, stabbity stabbity stab!"

Gumi seemed to have entered a pure battle rage, slicing into every soldier that crossed her path. Gakupo himself was practically a machine, moving with utter trained precision. Miku had often wondered how many of his "war stories" were fiction, but clearly at least some of them were true given how comfortable he was in the heat of a fight. Years of making toys hadn't dulled his battle senses in the slightest.

Kaito gave Miku's hand a tight squeeze – almost painful, though she held her tongue. He had no idea how strong he was. "There's our opening… I'll keep you safe, Miku…" he said quietly.

She shuddered when she saw the look on the King's face – he wasn't scared.

He was _excited._

"Destroy the army! The Nutcracker is mine!"

"GO!"

He released her hand and barreled forward, Miku valiantly trying to keep up with the Nutcracker's furious pace. She'd been afraid he'd try to stop her, but he accepted her decision at once. Now she just needed to not hold him back.

'I don't know what Gakupo needs me to do, but I'll figure something out…'

She heard King Len's order and kept her eyes wide open for his assault. She kept trying to beat back the soldiers approaching her, but she still found herself getting pushed close to Kaito.

A sudden blast of wind knocked her off her feet. "MIKU!" Kaito shouted.

Miku tumbled through the snow, trying to get up again and fight. "You're not helping her, Nutcracker. All I want is you. And it's quite fortunate of you to deliver yourself to me."

Len's tail whipped around furiously behind him as his blade glowed green. "Now, come at me alone, unless you're so cowardly you need a little girl to use as a shield."

Kaito looked back at her with worry and already she _knew_ what he'd do… he stepped forward as a circle of mice closed in around him, blocking her from seeing either of them…

A loud blast and flash of light distracted the soldiers with Miku. She pushed herself up and saw Meiko leap forward and stab them one by one. "Sorry we're late!"

Miku gestured to the ever growing crowd around the Mouse King and his opponent. "We have to do something, they're going to tear Kaito apart!"

"I see… they're trying to keep him separated… I don't think they'll try and attack until he orders them too…"

Meiko was trying to plan in the moment. She glanced backwards at the battlefield where the doll army still tried to keep themselves alive. "The more mice that come back here to aid the King… the faster the dolls will be able to cut through them…"

Miku heard Gumi's frantic yelling and saw her and Gakupo chopping their way through several more mice as Luka danced forward with her wild spellcasting. She held out her sword and prepared to do her part in this fight… whatever that was…

* * *

Kaito tried to keep up with the furious thrusts of King Len. "Not much of a soldier, are you?" the King taunted him, "You can't even keep up with a mouse!"

He tried to keep looking for an opening, but the speed of the Mouse King left him little. Most importantly, though, he refused to allow Len to unnerve him anymore than he already was. He _needed_ to kill this boy and end the war.

'Boy?' Why was he thinking of him like that? This was a monster, not a child.

A blast of wind shot out of his sword. Kaito dropped and rolled clumsily on the ground – he saw several of the mice disappear as the blasts crashed into them. Kaito leapt back to his feet and stared at him in anger. "You don't even care about your own soldiers?!"

"Everyone exists only to be used!" Len shouted, his voice empty and free of cheer as he spoke. He closed in on Kaito who tried to parry every single furious blow. "The mice, the humans, the dolls, even the faeries! They only try to use each other to their own ends! They discard that which they no longer need!"

Kaito managed to get a thrust past Len's assault, forcing the boy back as he moved into an offensive position. He tried to remember what Meiko's trial had admitted – a long time ago, the mice had been betrayed.

'But that doesn't justify what they're doing now! They're hurting so many more people!'

'You could have done that too, when you were pushed far enough... instead you…'

* * *

 _He stood over his uncle's slumbering form. The bandages seemed to be holding. He would live for now. He chanced returning to his old room, but the remnants of his old life only tore at him further, reminders of something he couldn't be anymore._

 _As he entered his old room once more, he saw his reflection in the vanity and he barely had the strength to look upon his doll's visage even one more day. An ugly nutcracker that his uncle nearly died for…_

 _"Uncle…" he whispered, "I don't ever want you to get hurt because of me again."_

 _And for the first time since his curse stole the sensation of touch from him… he **did** feel something. The sensation of magic pressing down against him. His wooden body began to tingle, the closest he had to "feeling" anything since he'd lost the sensation of touch. All he could think of was how badly he needed to cease existing and then everyone would be safe… there was no way out for him, nothing he could do to change his own fate. But perhaps he could at least change the fate of everyone he loved… if he stopped being a factor in it…_

 _His body felt heavy and empty as he let himself be consumed by the crushing force wrapping around him, the mattress of his bed seeming to grow as his wooden body collapsed onto the surface…_

* * *

Len's sword impaled straight through his wooden torso and Kaito could hear a sickening crack at the impact site. "Are you even paying attention?!" he chided.

The Mouse King roughly wrenched the sword back out, taking a large chunk of wood out of Kaito's chest along with it. The Nutcracker glanced down at the large unsightly hole… but of course he couldn't actually feel any type of injury. 'It's fine… it's just wood, that won't kill me!'

He didn't want to die. He promised Miku he wouldn't die. He couldn't start obsessing with the past again, but where did that memory come from?

'Was that… how I fell asleep?'

He saw a series of small flashes followed by tiny explosions. Len leapt back, watching his soldiers start to vanish into smoke. "This is… celestial magic, isn't it?" he murmured, "You have a faerie with you."

Just the thought of Len hurting his "auntie" drove any charity of out his mind. "I won't let you hurt her or anyone else ever again!" he shouted, charging straight at the Mouse King.

'I have to kill him, I have to stop all of it!'

He was glad he didn't have a heart to race or blood to chill at the direction of his thoughts…

* * *

Miku screamed when she heard the sound of wood crunching, but once she heard Kaito's voice again, she tried to convince herself he was still safe for now. She tried to keep her sword steady – she'd managed to kill a few soldiers, but in these numbers with this ferocity, she kept finding herself outmatched. Like a child fighting amongst grown men. She heard a shriek behind her and tried to get her sword up in time as she saw a spear coming at her… only for the mouse to explode into a black cloud as Gakupo sliced through it with his own blade. He looked exhausted, but he extended a hand to help Miku back up again. "Gakupo… I… I can't fight them the way you can… how am I going to help Kaito? How am I supposed to help him beat the Mouse King?!"

He tried to give her a reassuring wink. "You're a clever girl, you'll seize the opportunity when it comes," he said, "Just stick close to me and let me protect you. You _are_ my only goddaughter."

Miku watched several more of Luka's light orbs hit the ground and explode. For just a moment she glimpsed Kaito trying to drive back King Len's strikes. She panicked as she saw the horrible gap inside o her poor Nutcracker's chest.

And for just a moment, Len's eyes locked with hers again and he smirked.

"Leave the Nutcracker to me, tear apart his friends!"

Even as dozens of voices approached her, she could still hear the reassuring _tick-tock_ of her godfather's watch as he pulled her close to him. "They won't lay a hand on you," he said gruffly.

He looked down at her. "Miku, we haven't seen the Queen here yet. She could arrive at any moment. Stay alert and shout when she gets here."

Finally… something she could do… Miku scanned every mouse on the field for the one blonde mouse with the white bow…

* * *

Kaito tried to read his opponent's face for any answers, but all he could see was the King's cruel smile. Was he _enjoying_ all of this madness? Yet as the soldiers peeled off to fight his friends, Kaito reminded himself that none of it mattered – he could end this and keep them all safe.

"You mocked me for considering my soldiers disposable, yet you're leaving your family and friends so you can keep fighting me?"

Len laughed at him. "It's just as I said. Everyone exists to be used. There are no bonds so strong that the right motivation can't break them."

Kaito only just barely parried a blow meant to take his head off. He wasn't actually sure losing his head would kill him, but he didn't expect being headless would help him defeat the Mouse King either. The Mouse King pressed his blade against Kaito's, trying to force it closer. "You're wrong," Kaito said, pressing outward against his foe's sword, "I'm not abandoning them… if it were up to me, not one of them would be here…"

"Right! Because you can't trust anyone!" Len shouted, "You understand!"

Kaito let Len press his sword even closer, to the point that they were only inches apart. "No… because when I kill you… every one of them will be safe."

Kaito kicked one of his heavy wooden feet straight into Len's very not-wooden torso. The sword slashed across his neck, cutting a deep gash into the wood and tearing through his blue scarf. The Mouse King fell into the snow and in a flash Kaito ran forward and stepped on the mouse's hand to stop him from getting his weapon back.

'This is it! I have seconds at best! Just one thrust right over his heart and…'

Kaito's sword stopped inches over the Mouse King's heart…

… Len was _crying_.

'No! I have to be stronger than this, I have to… I… why is he crying?'

It felt as if time stood still as Kaito tried to study his opponent's face, the tears freely falling from his eyes. Even with the monstrous mouse-like features, all the nutcracker saw were the eyes of a scared child.

Did anyone know who the Mouse King and Queen were? Where they came from and why they wanted to cause so much pain?

He expected Len to taunt him for his sudden weakness but… the boy's whiskers trembled with fright as he looked up into Kaito's face…

'I… I have to kill them to be free… but…'

"… I can't… kill you…" Kaito whispered.

"GAKUPO! That sled, the Queen's in the sled!"

Kaito felt the familiar tingling of magic before he saw it – a black bolt of lightning extending straight towards him in seconds, slamming into his body and hurling him across the snowfield… his body convulsed even as he hit the snow…

For the first time in the entire fight, Kaito felt weakness in his body. He tried to move his arms, but they barely responded. He couldn't manage to do more than lightly shake his feet. No matter how hard he willed his body to move, it refused, like he was an outsider.

Was he finally mortally injured, by magic instead of a sword? He watched an enormous black sleigh come to a halt near the downed King of Mice, tugged by one multi-legged feral mouse. The Queen delicately dismounted and knelt over the King, whispering to him quietly before she took his hand and helped him to stand under his own power. The King's tears had left him as he stood with his Queen. She glared back at Kaito, her tail rigid, her eyes burning with fury. "You tried to kill Len, didn't you? You miserable Nutcracker, I'll tear you to pieces for even TOUCHING him!"

He'd failed… he'd let Len live…

* * *

Miku saw Kaito go flying and at once abandoned her position next to her godfather to chase him through the snow. She heard him shout for her to stop but she was already terrified Kaito was truly dead…

She saw Rin turn her head towards her, her mouse ears wiggling slightly as she glared at her. "Get out of my way, human!"

She raised just one gloved hand and Miku saw the lightning flying at her… deflected as it crashed into a white, shimmering wall of stars. She didn't even need to ask who'd shielded her, she simply continued to run towards Kaito. She reached his side and knelt over him, fearful of that dead eyed face again as she touched her hands to the long crack in his torso… but his eyes tracked towards her, if slowly. "My Nutcracker, I'm here…" she whispered.

Kaito didn't speak, but she kept watching his fingers start to twitch as if he was trying to move on his own.

"What did I tell you, Nutcracker?" Rin hissed, "Len and I will tear apart anyone that stands between you and us."

Miku tried to pull Kaito close to her, shielding him with her body. "Even her."

"Miku… just let them have me…" Kaito whispered quietly, his voice seeming out of sync with his mouth movements.

"SHUT UP!" Miku shouted at him, "If I have to _make_ you keep that promise to not die, I will!"

"It's not polite to break a promise to a lady, Kaito."

Gakupo stepped out in front of Miku, his rainbow blade casting an array of colors into the snow as the sun bounced off of it. Luka leapt to Gakupo's side. "Gakupo… you know you won't be able to defeat them…" she said in a low voice.

"I know…" he said, "I know I can't save my nephew… but…"

He touched his hand over his chest, near his heart. "I have to protect my goddaughter, right?"

Luka briefly clenched his other hand, smiling serenely. "Then I have to protect _you_."

Miku watched as the faerie rose onto the tips of her toes, summoning her orb that cast a thousand lights. "If you intend to get to Kaito, you'll have to fight your way through us first!" Gakupo challenged.

"Gakupo! No, don't!" Meiko shouted, trying to enter the fight herself.

He cast a glare her way. "Princess," he said harshly, "You have an army waiting for you down there. If you want to make a difference, make sure they win their battle."

"P… Princess?" Gumi said in awe.

Meiko clenched her fist then stared down the hill where the dolls continued to fight their losing battle. "Private," Meiko said, "We have a war to win."

Gumi saluted her and began to run down the hill following behind her. The Mouse Royals let them leave without hesitation. "All I care about now is the Nutcracker…" Rin said harshly, "You're the one that attacked our army though. If I have to break you to get to him… then I'll consider it a pleasure."

Len drew his weapon. "I fight by the side of my Queen."

All at once the two pairs clashed. Luka's elegant movements involved her leaping across the field, easily bypassing Rin's projectiles as she tried to stay close to her partner. She made her magical spells flow as easily as if she were performing a _grand pas deux_ , with Gakupo her less elegant but no less synchronized partner. Where Len would try and press forward, Gakupo's blade always found a way to counter him. When Rin's magic grew too close, a celestial shield held back it's advance.

Miku looked back to Kaito and she started to tear up again as she watched him struggling to move on his own. Finally one of his wooden hands touched her cheek, letting her tears fall on his finger. "Miku… I'm sorry… I couldn't stop him…" he said quietly.

"He's not a weak person. You did your best." All he could think of was the Mouse King and not his own weak condition?

But her assurances did little to calm him. "No, it wasn't that he overpowered me… I had the chance to end it and I… I let him go…"

"Wait… what?!" Miku couldn't believe what Kaito was confessing to, "You could have killed him and you…"

He finally began to sit up, even as his arms quaked. He watched the battle carefully. "Look at him… he kept swearing that everyone exists to be used, that he can't trust anyone… but I think he was lying… because they're clearly capable of trusting each other…"

Where Luka and Gakupo had an easy, relaxed movement as if putting on a performance, the Mouse Queen and King had no such beauty. Their movements were brutish and violent, a chaotic counter to their ordered foes. Yet even as vicious as their battle formation was, Miku recognized that each one of them formed a perfect mirror to the other. She started to notice they too had a rhythm they followed, an unspoken ability to read each other's motions without speaking.

"It's like watching two people fighting as one…" she murmured.

Miku felt a chill as Rin started to laugh in the middle of the fight. "Len, Len, look! There's something shiny, a glorious treasure!"

Len shoved Gakupo back, observing him carefully. His tail swished with excitement as his whiskers tingled. "You're right… I'm not as good at magic as you are, but I can smell a valuable from miles away!"

Gakupo didn't seem to react, but Miku finally began to read worry on his face. Len pointed his sword towards him. "Do you want me to carve it out of his corpse then?"

Luka danced close to her partner, protective of him as she held her magical orb. "There's no need to be so violent," Rin said waving her hands, "Just let me handle it."

'A… treasure? Inside _Gakupo_?!'

Kaito finally managed to stand up again, looking worried on hearing those words. "What are they planning?"

Rin began a furious assault of magic against Gakupo. Luka tried to counter quickly and cleanly, but Gakupo wasn't able to move forward as bolt after bolt covered his vision. Their rhythm began to dissipate…

… as Len swept in close to attack Luka.

He never so much as scratched her, so quickly did Gakupo dive forward to stop him. But the maneuver left him exposed to Rin's next attack. With one expertly timed bolt, she blasted apart Luka's orb right in her hands.

The fairy and the toymaker were blown apart.

"UNCLE! LUKA! NO!"

Kaito tried to stumble forward, collapsing as his legs gave out again. He tried to reach out in the snow somehow. In seconds Rin's arms began to elongate, turning transparent and wispy, her hands becoming two enormous ghostly claws. She reached forward through the air to Gakupo as he bounced back to his feet… and her hands slammed right into his chest.

Miku tried to keep Kaito stable as she watched in horror. Her godfather looked like he was trying to scream but no voice emerged as the Mouse Queen's hands rooted through his body. "Oh… oh my! This is full of magic, isn't it?! You kept the best treasure you had hidden from everyone didn't you?!"

Just as swiftly she ripped her arms back and Gakupo fell to the ground like a broken marionette. In the Mouse Queen's wispy arms, Miku could just barely make out the shape of a small, toy clockwork heart.

Rin clutched it close to her chest. "Okay, Len, now you can kill him and we can finish off that nutcracker and…"

The sound of cannon fire broke her out of her speech. Rin jumped back before she lost her head to a cannonball. The army charged up the slopes, several of them hauling wheeled cannons with all their strength.

"Full fire! Don't let them escape!"

Meiko held her sword out proudly, barking out orders.

A blast of light fired towards Rin as Luka leapt towards her… beating her back effortlessly with a bolt of lightning she was forced to shield herself from. "They defeated another part of our army…" Len muttered as he approached his Queen.

"It's fine. We got a nice treasure from that rude toymaker that hurt us so," Rin said, staring greedily at the heart.

"Give that back at once!" Luka shouted, and for the first time Miku saw the faerie's placid face contorting with rage.

Rin beckoned as her black sled began to move through the snow. Several wisps of smoke formed in front of it, summoning her monstrous mount. "What did we promise you, Nutcracker?!" Len shouted as he and Rin jumped inside, "There is nothing that will keep us from our revenge on you!"

Miku watched as Luka actually tried to chase their sled on foot… a futile effort as it picked up speed.

The Mouse Queen and King had fled the battle.

Miku walked over to Gakupo's still body. "Godfather?" she whimpered.

She halted as she took one look at his still face. 'He looks just like Kaito when he… when… he…'

His lovely blue eyes had turned solid grey, staring straight forward with a blank expression on his face.

She collapsed right next to his body and began shaking him, shouting to him as she had to Kaito. "Godfather, please! Godfather, don't fall asleep! Don't leave us!"

That was when Miku noticed another absence besides his emotions. The ever-present sound of his pocket watch. She pressed her head close to his chest… but she heard _nothing_.

Not even the sound of a heartbeat.

"… he is a man without a heart."

Miku beheld Luka standing over her. The faerie knelt in the snow, taking off one of her gloves and touching Gakupo's skin with her bare hand, her light blue fingernails shining against his paling skin.

* * *

 _The faerie pushed open the familiar run down doors of the workshop. Nobody had lived here for years – but if Drosselmeyer had no home any longer, surely this old home would have been his retreat. 'He would choose to hide somewhere I would know to seek him out…'_

 _But her eyes darted through the dark room and she saw no signs of life inside. Several toy soldiers slumped against the walls, as if they'd been carelessly wound then died out. Perhaps she had simply arrived too early… or he'd been chased back out. She would have to try to find other mortals that had seen him. She didn't dare alert the mice to his alliance with a faerie so soon._

 _Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw movement near the cellar door. She stared at another arrangement of soldiers… and watched another automaton emerge from the cellar. She gasped as she recognized several of its features as it moved forward with mechanical precision – the soft purple hair and ancient purple coat, the shape of its build. Yet its hands exposed wires and segmented joints. Its "skin" was a dull metallic sheen with flaking paint. Its face was a large, carefully curved metal plate bearing a blank expression, and she could see the seams between the metal plating that formed its outer shell beneath its clothes._

 _She began to approach it with caution, her breath catching as the automaton finally became aware of her. Its head jerked her way and she observed its solid grey eyes. She could hear a rough clicking as they moved across her form._

 _"State your purpose."_

 _On hearing that sharp yet familiar voice, it took all of her strength to maintain her composure. "I seek Drosselmeyer and his nephew."_

 _The automaton stared at her for several moments. "They are not here."_

 _And with that, the automaton turned back to its work, trying to repair the soldiers._

 _The faerie's footsteps quickened as she hastened to where she remembered the bedrooms to be… his nephew's room was just up the steps…_

 _"You are not authorized to enter that area."_

 _She stopped walking, turning back to the automaton. Her lips pursed. "Why not?"_

 _Its mechanical eyes and frozen face gave nothing away._

 _Left with nothing but silence, she turned back up the steps and marched forward. In seconds she heard rapid heavy footsteps and found the automaton's fist clenched tightly around her delicate wrist._

 _"You are not authorized."_

 _The faerie turned back to it and studied its face again for anything amiss. "… why not?"_

 _The steady grip of the automaton on her wrist had momentarily frightened her, but she gradually lost her fear of it striking or injuring her._

 _"Are you protecting something? Some **one**? Out with it!"_

 _"I cannot let anyone hurt him ever again."_

 _In spite of the lack of expression, in spite of the solid unwavering voice… she started to understand. She tenderly touched her free hand to the automaton's cheek. "Gakupo…" she whispered, "You don't even trust **me**?"_

 _On hearing that name, the automaton's grip on her wrist loosened just enough for her to pull her hand free. She ascended the stairs and pushed open his bedroom door…_

 _There, carefully arranged on the sheets of his bed, was a tiny wooden nutcracker doll._

 _She gently approached the doll, touching her fingertips to its forehead and feeling lifeless wood. But underneath, she could still feel a small spark of magic. Something in this little nutcracker was still alive, if dormant._

 _She bent over the bed, whispering quietly. "Sleep well, little Nutcracker… you carry the heaviest burden of us all. I know it seems impossible now, but there is someone out there who will love you with all her heart…"_

 _She heard the automaton's heavy footsteps climbing the stairs. She rose to her feet again, steeling herself for the problem she'd come to resolve on her own. The fate she needed to change. In the doorway, the automaton stared out at her, his face still motionless. Yet when finally it spoke of its own volition, its mechanical voice shook with sorrow._

 _"Sugar… Plum…"_

 _She felt a dampness on her own cheeks. Why was she crying for him so? She knew logically why he'd become like this. There was no great curse that had transformed his body into this creature of metal in which ancient echoes of the past occasionally rushed forth. He'd utterly collapsed into a well of his sorrows and the magic of this world he'd become unanchored in had granted him an escape he sought. Like this he could forget his past – he could forget the people he'd lost and hurt. And he himself would never feel anything again._

 _And logically, she knew she was expected to leave him to his fate. She'd already interfered so much… this was supposed to be_ his _problem to solve… or fail to solve…_

 _She stepped forward and lightly embraced his cold, lifeless shell, willing herself to remember how he was before. His vibrant laughter, his joyful songs, the warmth of his embrace, the tenderness of his kisses. She finally accepted that he'd become an inspiration to her to finally stop merely observing the world below, endlessly charting stars and guiding wayward souls and then departing as if they were nothing. Because of him, she had the courage to dance like they did, to laugh like they did…_

 _… to love like they did._

 _As she held him, she half expected him to return her affections, yet he remained utterly motionless, staring ahead at nothing. Yet he didn't simply walk away as if she was nothing either._

 _If he were simply dead, she could accept that. He was mortal after all. But he wasn't bereft of life. His soul was trapped in this metallic prison, and she had no way to release him._

 _Her silent embrace offered nothing. All she could hear was the barely silent gears turning in his body… and the sound of the ticking clockwork heart in her coat. "You said…" she whispered, "that I could listen to that noise and know somewhere down there your heart beat as readily for me as this… but you don't have a heart any longer, do you? This is all I have left to recall it…"_

 _She felt a deep warmth in her coat, tingling of magic. Yet it wasn't the crushing despair she feared… she pulled it out and saw several specks of light emitting from it, the window to the gears revealing a soft glow from the visible nodes of stardust within its casing. "What is this? Is it because… I walked with it amongst the heavens for so long?"_

 _Within her hands she allowed the heart to levitate as it glowed. She dared not hope for a miracle, but deep in her heart she prayed that she had a way to save him. If he had no heart, perhaps she could replace it with something else… at least regain his soul if not the rest of him…_

 _The heart gently floated towards his chest and at once the automaton shuddered in her arms, twitching back and forth. She held him close but his strength caused them both to fall to the ground in the bedroom. Yet as she landed on top of him, she could already feel it – warm blood and flesh. Breath flowing through his chest as he gasped out for air. His eyes opened again, that beautiful brilliant sky blue that sparkled with the love he held for her._

 _"How… did I get here?" he asked, "And not that I'm complaining, but is there any particular reason you're on top of me?"_

 _She silenced him by drawing him into a joyful kiss, clutching his living body close and silently thanking the heavens for granting her this precious gift. As their lips parted, he patted his chest in curiosity. "Luka, I don't wish to alarm you but… I seem to be ticking…"_

 _"Gakupo… you lost your heart… so now you've got a clockwork heart keeping you alive…" she said happily, "So take very good care of it, because you only made one!"_

 _Now it was the toymaker's turn to look surprised. "You just… told a joke, didn't you? Oh my, I am having a truly corrupting influence on you…"_

 _She dared not release him, that steady tick-tock within his chest reassuring him that he was alive, he was hers, and she had one more chance to preserve him so long as it stayed there…_

* * *

Miku watched as Luka traced her fingers along Gakupo's cheek. "Gakupo…" she whispered, "Please… tell me you're all right… You're already growing so cold…"

At once Gakupo blinked his eyes and stared up at Luka. "Luka?" he muttered, "Where did they take it?"

But she held no answers. "Luka… does Gakupo need that heart to live?" Miku asked.

"Gakupo… needs that heart to stay whole," Luka responded, "It's all that he was… without it… he'll become a soulless toy, no different than the automatons he built in his shop…"

The faerie tried to keep her lover steady as he tried to stand. Already his movements seemed stiffer, like he was having trouble properly bending his body. "I don't know if he'll die, but I can't say that the alternative is preferable… and I don't know how long we have to retrieve it before Gakupo is lost to us..."

Miku didn't want to accept what she was hearing. Was this why Gakupo knew he couldn't help her? Because he knew with such certainty that standing against them would break him like this?!

"Uncle… Miku… Luka…" Kaito whispered.

Though the Nutcracker finally seemed capable of standing under his own power again, his head hung so low Miku couldn't even make out his eyes. "This is all my fault…"

Meiko charged through the snow, flanked by several other officers in red colors – a stern looking wooden woman with waist-length blonde hair and a sharp looking cloth doll with a gigantic red ponytail. "Is Drosselmeyer safe?!" the princess asked.

She jumped when he looked at her, and Miku guessed his eyes gave away his condition at once. "No! Did the mice curse him!? How did this happen!?"

But Gakupo interrupted her as he looked over the two dolls at her side. "Cul and Lily… right?"

Cul's stitched eyes twitched at hearing him say her name. "… yes, it's us… er, Boss. I'm glad you remember me..."

Gakupo smiled softly for them. "I'm glad to see you both safe."

His smile in light of his condition seemed to have little effect at calming either of the doll women, Lily trying awkwardly to put on a cheerful face in spite of the ill mood.

Luka seemed quite done with conversation for now, and it was eerie to Miku how much she seemed to struggle keeping her emotions in check. "I'd rather explain somewhere safer…" she said calmly, staring out in the direction where the Mouse Royals sleigh had escaped, "We can't dally here. Their soldiers aren't normal, and they've not even shown a fraction of their force. The losses they've suffered… are nothing."

"Princess Pirlipat!" Lily said as she saluted, and just hearing that name made Meiko cringe again, "We have a camp not too far from here, down in the valley… we need to patch up our soldiers anyway."

"How many casualties, Lieutenant Lily?" Meiko asked somberly.

"Well… frankly, the confusion of you lot showing up flanking the Mouse King and scattering those automatons gave us a chance to break the stalemate," she said, "We still have supplies for fixing structural damage, but nobody was completely broken. Your clockwork soldiers aren't in great shape, but better something that wasn't alive take that kind of a beating instead."

'No wonder the dolls keep getting drafted…' Miku thought to herself, 'They're still so hard to kill!'

Cul examined Kaito, grimacing at the great hole in his torso and the shredded scarf hanging around his neck revealing the unsightly gash that could have torn his head clean off. "We probably have enough for him too," she said, "You're lucky you know. I've seen the Mouse King chop other dolls into pieces. But we should be able to have someone repair your structural damage."

Kaito nodded his head but seemed incapable of adding anymore conversation.

"If your camp is in the valley," Gakupo said hoarsely, "You probably aren't that far from my old workshop. We could make use of the supplies I have…"

Slowly Luka and Meiko managed to get Gakupo walking as close to normal as possible, trudging through the snow towards their camp. A cold wind settled over her as the sun was setting. She immediately noticed one person missing and stopped walking.

Kaito was standing still in the snow. "Kaito… we need to get back to camp… we can get you fixed up and start figuring out how to get Gakupo's heart back…"

"I let him live… and now Uncle is hurt…" he said softly.

She walked back over to Kaito, watching his eyes having turned to thin black lines. "I promised… I'd kill the Mouse King but… I couldn't do it… I lost my nerve…"

Miku grabbed his hand before remembering he couldn't feel it. She flicked a finger along his cheek, the small knocking sound causing him to notice her presence, the thick lines turning back to normal eyes. "No, you promised me you wouldn't die," she said, "And you kept that promise to me."

Seeing Kaito so devoid of cheer frightened her – not because the dire circumstances felt insurmountable, but because she feared what could happen to _him_.

"Think about it, Kaito – you have to defeat the Mouse King and Queen anyway, right?" she said, "Well, now they have Gakupo's heart. It's not like we weren't going to pursue them anyway…"

She tried to smile for him. No matter how weak she felt, so useless to him in battle… she wanted to try things his way. To smile for him, no matter how false it felt, just to make him feel stronger. Just as he kept doing for her. "We'll chase them down and get the heart back… and then Gakupo is going to be just fine."

Kaito seemed to acknowledge her words, though no matching smile ever formed on his face. But this time when Miku began to walk through the snow, he followed closely behind her.

'Kaito… I don't have a plan to save you… I don't have a plan to get that heart back… but…'

She swallowed. 'Even if I'm not a soldier or a warrior, I'll come up with some way to get us both home again…'

* * *

 **A/N:**

So apparently there were a lot of folks that guessed what was up with Gakupo and the ticking from as far back as the first chapter, but I hope I still kept some folks surprised. Namely because it's not a plot point from any other version of the Nutcracker, it's just me throwing my own twists into the existing story!

Believe it or not, I actually was not thinking of a certain anime that also includes a Drosselmeyer, large sections of the Nutcracker Suite, and a main character without a heart though I felt preeeeetty stupid when that was asked of me point blank after releasing the first chapter. Actually, it's meant to be a reference to another fairy tale about toys altogether, The Steadfast Tin Soldier. That's a Hans Christian Anderson story about a tin soldier who falls in love with a toy ballerina until they're driven apart by fate and they both die in after falling into a fireplace together. Now, see guys? As rough as I am on my characters, _I could be so much worse._

I told you guys I'd get some ballet in here, even if Luka's ballet sorcery is a bit unorthodox.

You guys have no idea how hard it was to not have Gumi scream "SENPAI NOTICED ME" after Gakupo fired her up for the battle XD


	9. Chapter 9: Uncle and Nephew

**Chapter 9: Uncle and Nephew**

 _"Godfather!" "Gakupo!"_

 _He'd barely set foot in the house before he heard two sets of small footsteps charging towards him. The little girl with her pigtails leapt eagerly into his arms and he laughed as he held her up and twirled her around. "Well hello there, Miku! Merry Christmas!"_

 _As he set her down, he wondered if she'd be too tall for that in another year. Her brother already was._

 _She was bouncing up and down with wild excitement. "Godfather, can I open a present early, please please please?!"_

 _He scoldingly shook his index finger. "If your parents are okay with it."_

 _The older gentleman with the black, bushy mustache smiled as he looked to his wife. "Just one," she said, "So choose wisely."_

 _Once he set his presents out in front of the tree, Miku tore open a small package with a gold bow. "AH! Gakupo, it's a ballerina! A pretty ballerina! And she even has wings!"_

 _She wound the ballerina and watched mesmerized as it began its graceful dance across the floor, its legs and arms taking each of the basic positions with perfect precision. The ballerina wore a glittering white gown, her pink hair pinned into a tight bun with a little silver tiara in her hair._

 _"Gakupo, thanks for the soldiers!" Mikuo said as he laid out a small string of them, "These are Hussars, right?"_

 _As he watched the children playing, memories of the last time he raised a child played through his mind. Over the years, they'd ceased to be painful memories – they served as strong reminders of why he was still wandering. But only because he had absolute faith in the person who'd set him upon this path in the first place._

 _"So Gakupo, the last time you were here, you said you had a business venture in the Orient?"_

 _Gakupo turned to the children's mother. "Indeed, I'd heard of some most unusual toys constructed out there. They called them 'karakuri puppets.' Their methods of concealing the mechanical instruments were impressive. Why some people even had them serving tea! I might like to try something like that!"_

 _"My, the next time you make a venture like that, you should bring some of them back for the children," their father said, "They'd do well to have some exposure to the wider world."_

 _He grinned. "Even if it's through more toys!"_

 _The toymaker turned his attention to the children again. His relationship to them had been entirely out of accident – he met their parents when he was trying to start up business ventures in his old world again. A common military background between the three of them led to some much needed investment capital… and soon the toys began to flow. He couldn't make the same kinds of marvels in this world that he could when he had magic… but they still tended to be impressive enough._

 _And they paid for him to continue his endless search._

 _Miku practically leapt into the toymaker's lap. "Gakupo, Gakupo, tell me about the ballerina! Tell me ALL about her!"_

 _He hugged Miku close. "Once upon a time, there was a faerie who lived in the stars. In spite of having the entirety of the heavens surrounding her, she always felt alone. She became enchanted by watching the ballerinas in the theaters on earth and studied them close. She began to dance, for the stars alone, practicing every day until she could perform as well as the most perfectly trained dancer. And she fell from the sky again, returning to the earth and joining the dance troupe as one of them. Every night when she took the stage and she heard the sounds of applause as she glided across the stage, she finally felt herself at peace."_

 _"But did the fairy make any friends?!" Miku asked in a panic._

 _The toymaker tapped her lightly on the nose. "I'll have you know, she had one **very** dedicated fan who came to every single one of her shows. And yes, they did become friends."_

 _Miku let out a dreamy sigh, leaning up right against his chest. "Tick, tock, tick, tock…" she said, "Tick, tock, tick, tock."_

 _"You know Miku," her father teased, "I'll bet that old pocket watch Gakupo is carrying around is a token from the faerie too."_

 _Her mother started to laugh. "Oh, because she knew Gakupo would lose himself in his workshop if he didn't have the loudest pocket watch in the world to remind him to check the time!"_

 _The toymaker hugged his goddaughter close. "I dare not lose it," he said softly._

 _His eyes rested on the unnoticed blue haired nutcracker sitting on the chair. And the words of his "Sugar Plum" returned to him._

 _'You must give him away to the first person that asks for him. After that, you won't be able to help him. Only she can.'_

 _Miku bent up close to his ear and whispered inside. "Mama and Papa won't let me have a cat… will you make me one? Then he can be friends with my ballerina."_

 _He envied this little girl's imagination. "Of course Miku," he said._

* * *

Miku never thought she'd come to miss that familiar ticking she heard whenever her godfather was around. Of course, she also never thought his "pocket watch" was actually a magical artifact he was using to sustain his human self.

Right now she, Luka, and Gakupo sat gathered in a makeshift tent out of the elements. The dimming light outside was broken up by a few torches. Right now her head was still swimming with the long explanation from Luka of what had happened to Gakupo… what he was and what he would become.

Now that explanations had been made, Kaito and Meiko had departed – Meiko trying to take stock of the army she suddenly found herself in charge of, Kaito being tended to by skilled craftsman to try and repair the more extreme damage to his wooden body.

By now the toymaker was sitting up under his own power, but his jerky movements worried Miku. "Is that why you don't get any older? Because you're not really human?"

It felt strange to say that about her godfather when he still _looked_ like a human. He looked annoyed at the question, but this time he didn't brush her off either. "Yes. I don't age, the same way… a toy doesn't age."

"But how did that work in our world?!" she exclaimed, "I thought you said magic isn't that strong there!"

"It isn't…" Gakupo had said, trying to smile, "I think that's why it worked. I couldn't very well turn into a clockwork man in my old home, so it didn't have to use as much magic to keep me like my old self."

Unlike Kaito, they had no way of knowing what would reverse Gakupo's condition. The heart was merely a stopgap – a lucky break that helped preserve most of what he was. Getting it back in time was tantamount to trying to stop his slow deterioration.

"So the mice aren't that far… right?" Miku asked hopefully, "We could just sneak in and take it back…"

"Sneaking won't be an option," Gakupo said, "Luka and I took our time trying to scout their castle before we came to the workshop. There's a nearly endless horde there."

He started twitching his fingers, and Miku tried to suppress a shudder as they creaked like rusty joints, barely articulating. "Hmph… I was planning to try and build more of my soldiers to help us out… but…"

He glared at his useless fingers in annoyance. "It looks like that's not going to be happening right now… confound it, if I'd at least turn faster these little joints might have worked…"

"If you turn faster, you won't have the mental state you need to build much of anything!" Luka shouted.

Seeing Luka's supernatural calm shattered so swiftly silenced his grumblings at once. Miku tried to grasp for something else they could try that didn't require Gakupo to be entirely human.

"What about the doll army out there?" Miku said, "Surely Meiko could convince one of them to help us out…"

"It's the same problem," he continued, "The soldiers require a lot of precise work to get them functioning to the level we need. That requires stardust nodes… and much as our friends the dolls are fine for most tasks, it's a rare doll indeed that's built with hands that can forge stardust…"

Miku folded her arms up in consternation. She wasn't going to just accept her godfather turning into a mindless automaton… or worse.

" _My_ hands are pretty good…" she said.

She half expected Gakupo to protest somehow, but for once he didn't. She looked up to him hopefully. "Hmmm… if I can hang on long enough, I could teach you how to forge the stardust properly…"

'AH! He trusts me to make toys!?'

Miku felt just a little giddy at the idea. "Now there's the matter of getting enough metal for them… after what you told me I had on hand, it's not going to be enough if we have to storm their fortress head on…"

"That's going to take time… we don't know how much you have…"

Luka touched Gakupo's cheek with her ungloved fingers. He turned his head slightly to meet her eyes and grasped her hand as well as he could still manage. "I have more than enough, certainly… I have you this time…"

Miku awkwardly turned her head away as they kissed, trying to grant them some intimacy. She thought about leaving – surely Gakupo would prefer the time alone, while he still had it? 'Gakupo… he's going to become like Kaito… he won't have blood or nerves, so he won't feel anything… he won't sleep or eat… even if Luka kisses him, he won't be able to return it…'

She stood to leave. "Excuse me… I'm going to go check up on Kaito's repairs…" she said nervously, "Don't worry godfather, I'll be close by."

She shuffled through the light snow, past the many doll soldiers gathered around her. They laughed and sang in spite of the misery around them, but they clearly possessed what Miku would approximate as a soul. 'It doesn't mean anything to them to not feel each other's touch… if they've never known it, they have no use for it. They seem to find plenty of ways to make each other happy…'

Sweet Ann and Big Al certainly seemed like any other married couple Miku had seen aside from the lack of intimate contact. It seemed almost chaste. But she did recall at least once that Oliver had run up and hugged _them_.

She felt a start when she realized she was thinking deeply about the intimate relationships of _dolls_. None of that seemed to have any relevance to her, right?

 _"W… well… I just wanted to say that… you… you're also… p… pre…."_

Miku stopped cold, right in front of the repair tent. She felt someone slam right into her back and stumbled forward from the brief impact.

"OH! Miss, are you okay? Ah, Usano Mimi, you need to apologize to her!"

Miku turned around to see a young wax doll with an elaborate black dress and long silvery blonde hair tipped with rainbow shades. In one hand she clutched a well-cared for stuffed rabbit.

Which she was now _holding up to Miku's face_. "Golly Miss, I'm sorry I'm so clumsy! Miss Mayu always tells me to watch where I'm going!"

The rabbit spoke not a word – instead, the girl had pitched her voice up high as she held it up by the neck, speaking "for" it and clutching it so tightly it looked like she was trying to strangle it. "Are you here to see one of Miss Mayu's patients?"

'This medic's a few bats short of a belfry…' Miku thought to herself. She held up her hands peacefully. "I'm here to check up on the Nutcracker you brought in."

Mayu lowered the rabbit toy. "Oh, the idiot that tried to take on the Mouse King! He's lucky he walked away with just the walloping he got!"

As she followed the strange "doctor" into the tent, Miku was getting more and more unnerved at how cheerful Mayu was speaking of injuries. Maybe because dolls didn't feel pain or die easily? "Indeed, why I just had to patch up three dolls after the last big battle that he quartered up! Took forever to find all the pieces! Oh, don't worry, I got all their parts together on the second try!"

Kaito was laid out along a long wooden table. Obviously, dolls had no need for stretchers or comfort – just a worktable. His neck had a little line of drying glue stuffed into it to try and cover where Len's sword had sliced into it, his torn scarf at his side. Fragments of fresh wood lay near his body. The Nutcracker looked up to see her, but to Miku's consternation, his smile had yet to return. "How's my uncle holding up?" he asked softly.

Miku tried to think of the most positive spin she could possibly put on things. "Gakupo was thinking of having me try and do some toy work that he can't do right now…"

A large pail of glue clunked down on the table as Mayu pulled out a thick brush and started to paint the inside of the hole in Kaito's chest. "Stay still!" she hissed, "I make less mistakes that way."

Mayu grabbed for a large block of wood sawed into the shape of the hole and gently rested inside. "Meiko was able to convince them to let me get repairs instead of just arresting me…" he said quietly.

So Meiko was still trying to make good on her promise to protect Kaito. "So, when Gakupo moved on to the Marzipan castle, did he take _all_ of his plans with him?" she asked.

Kaito stared ahead the top of the tent as Mayu started to paint the remaining cracks along his chest with wood glue. "He only brought what he thought he'd need right then," he explained, "Uncle was very meticulous about detailing every toy or invention he ever built. If he didn't build at the castle, though, it's probably still there…"

All of a sudden his head rolled over to Miku. "Wait, what are you trying to do?!"

"Kaito, you and I inventoried all the metals in the workshop," she said, "We don't have nearly enough to build enough soldiers to make up for the number of mice. If the mice took his old heart… it's just a toy, so… I want to try and build him a new one."

Kaito started to move around on the table, causing an upset from his attending doctor. "I ALMOST GLUED MY PINKY INTO YOUR CHEST CAVITY!" she shrieked.

"S-sorry!" he apologized, "But Miku, you shouldn't go down there by yourself! Look, I'm sure Mayu will be done soon…"

"The glue is still going to have to dry!" Mayu barked.

"… and I'll keep you safe!"

Miku couldn't believe how intense a pair of painted eyes could look, but Kaito's expressed so much fear and worry. He fell silent for another moment, the only sound the clacking of wood as Mayu ensured the glue was in place. "Does he know?" Kaito said softly.

Miku folded her hands in her lap. "No… Gakupo has suffered enough from false hope. I don't intend to raise that hope again until I know we can find the plans."

* * *

By the time Kaito's glue was dry, the sun had already set. Miku clutched a lantern in her hands, Kaito keeping close to her. He'd still yet to smile or show any signs of cheer. 'Once Gakupo is well again, he'll be back to his old self,' Miku thought, 'And besides, won't Gakupo be impressed when I build him a new _heart?!_ "

As they approached the edge of the camp, a small group of soldiers gathered around them, amongst them the officer she'd known as Cul. "Nutcracker! You are not permitted to leave our custody!"

"What?! He helped save all of your lives!" Miku argued.

Cul held firm. "We don't wish to detain Drosselemeyer's nephew…" she repeated, "But we have to respect the King's orders to bring you back!"

"What in blazes are you doing?"

Meiko's angry voice had never sounded so inviting as she tromped over in the snow, trying to keep up her best royal swagger. "Princess, the Nutcracker was about to leave the camp and…"

Miku heard the princess sigh angrily. "Kaito, where are you trying to go?" she said.

"I just… I wanted to help Miku go to the workshop and find a way to save my uncle…"

Meiko glanced at her soldiers. "He just needs to stay within our custody, right?" she said, "Send a few soliders down to prevent him from escaping. Besides, the mice have invaded that workshop before, we need to keep it secured."

'Wow… she's a completely different person when she's actually in charge…' Miku thought.

Cul looked to the other soldiers with her. "I'll see who I can spare. Wait here."

As the soldiers departed, Meiko started to grumble. "They're scared of the King…" she said quietly, "He threatened deserters and rabble rousers with a furnace. And here I am trying to stand up to him."

The princess' face cheered as at least two more familiar soldiers arrived with Cul – Gumi and Lily.

"OH! Miku, Miku, is Drosselmeyer going to be okay?!" Gumi said, hopping over in a very unmilitaristic manner.

"That's what we're trying to ensure," Miku said, glancing back at Kaito as he stared out into the snow.

"We'll be escorting you to the workshop," Lily said calmly.

Meiko looked over to her comrades. "I'll join you down there when I can…" she said with annoyance on her face, "I've suddenly far more matters to attend to than I'd wanted. Please keep him safe."

* * *

Rin tossed her new toy heart between her hands. Whatever lovely glow it possessed when she wrenched it out of the toymaker's body had long ago faded. "What makes you sparkle, little toy?" she said, "You're so full of emotions and memories…"

She sat calmly in the sleigh, her thick black and yellow coat protecting her from the cold. "To slumber inside his chest alone… you must have witnessed every moment in his existence…"

She scrunched up her nose and began to fire little bolts of magic into it. "So what sort of things does a toymaker obsess over?"

* * *

 _The pink haired ballerina darted across the stage, the feathers in her tutu and sprouting from her crown delicately bouncing around her head as she encircled the prince, her panicked footsteps and face belying fear._

 _"Uncle, what's happening now?"_

 _He hushed his nephew. "The swan is trying to warn her beloved that he is being deceived by the Black Swan. He's about to make a pledge to the wrong maiden…"_

 _"Oh, but then the swan will be trapped forever!"_

 _He tried to suppress his laughter at the boy's horrified face. 'Well little swan, I hope tonight's writers are kind to you.' he thought to himself._

 _"... it's fine. I'm sure her prince loves her so that even if he is deceived, he and the swan will find a way to save themselves."_

 _A white swan and a black swan danced near the prince, the other ballerina possessing short pink hair tied into multiple buns._

 _"Okay, then I'll believe in them too, uncle!"_

 _With that, his nephew fell silent as he continued to watch the show play out in front of him._

 _He found himself most grateful that **his** "swan" would not need to be rescued from such dire and complicated circumstances. No, she would be waiting for him after the show. In spite of the emotions playing upon her face on the stage, in person she still didn't understand his overtures – the concept of courtship was utterly beyond the average faerie. But she'd told him everything she did now was new and unfamiliar, and he dared not shatter what they had now. She was the one that continued to seek him out, and he would be waiting patiently as she started to understand why…_

* * *

Rin almost dropped the heart right then – it was as if she'd been sitting right there, watching the faerie and feeling all of his love for her. It made her feel dirty and sick to have such an emotion flood her like that.

Yet… her curiosity overtook her again. She clutched the heart close and filled it with magic again.

* * *

 _"Okay, Uncle, I'm sure I've gotten it this time!"_

 _His nephew set down a small, roughly assembled violinist and turned the key in the back._

 _As soon as the violinist's bow hit his instrument, the most off-key sound the toymaker had ever heard echoed through the shop. "Ahh, no no no, you were playing so well before!" his nephew said, trying to take the bow away lest he continue to mangle the melody._

 _Even in spite of his obvious failure, he showed little sign of being upset as the toy wound down. "I guess I'll just have to try harder… it was playing Princess Pirlipat's favorite song when I made it before!"_

 _"Princess Pirlipat?"_

 _"She's really quite kind, she wanted me to make her something to prove I was really_ your _nephew! Oh, I know she'll like it… when it works that is."_

 _He still had trouble grasping the standoffish daughter of his rather surly employer being friendly, but all of a sudden he saw his nephew as less of a child and more of an adult now. Where had the time gone? His heart panged with nostalgia for the past…_

* * *

The Mouse Queen gasped as she tried to let go of the sensation of that man's heart. Now it was trying to make her feel sympathy for that horrible boy that had interfered with them? She had half a mind to blast it to pieces… but she tried to peek into it one more time…

* * *

 _He tried to hold onto her as long as her could, to remember every inch of her body, the smell of her perfume, the silkiness of her hair._

 _He never wanted to let go of her again. But he had to. His nephew's savior was not of this world._

 _The soft ticking of the heart inside his chest felt so bizarre – he didn't have a real pulse anymore. He was in many respects human, and in many others something different. He'd have to learn to adapt to it. But as he'd wished for… he now had a body that would live forever, to ensure he survived to see his nephew saved._

 _He kissed her one last time, trying to focus not on the sorrow of losing her again, but on how that soft ticking would remind him with every second that she was out there and thinking of **him** …_

* * *

 _"No, I won't let them separate us and send you to a workhouse! I won't!"_

 _She clutched her hands to the sides of her head as she shook. Her brother held her tightly as she sobbed in his arms. "Why does nobody want us? Why do they keep passing us over?"_

 _"I still want you…" he said quietly._

 _He pulled back from her and his shining blue eyes and smart smirk revealed a plan was brewing in the blonde boy's crafty mind. "If nobody else wants us… we'll just have to take care of ourselves."_

 _"You mean run away?!"_

 _As horrifying as it sounded, they could stay together. "We can't trust anyone…" she whispered, "They'll send us back or arrest us or…"_

 _"Ryuto said the forest north of town is full of faeries," he said hopefully, "We could run there."_

 _Did she want to pin all her hopes on faeries being real!?_

 _… she wanted to be apart from him even less. She ran across the room and gathered what meager possessions she had, her favorite white bow, and her thickest coat…_

* * *

The heart plunged into the snow as the Mouse Queen hurled it with all her might. Her hands trembled from the bizarre emotions choking out her own. The boy in her vision was a human boy… but… that was Len… and Len was a mouse like her…

"Rin, what are you doing?!"

She turned to see the return of her brother, followed by several of their soldiers. "The doll's camp is by the workshop. If we hurl the army we have at them, there's no doubt we'll ferret out the Nutcracker this time…"

She tried to steady her breathing. She still watched the heart in the snow, listening to its ticking. "We don't need to break through a whole army to get him."

She reached out for the heart with her shadowy hands, pulling it close. She tried her spells again, except this time instead of reading etchings of the heart's past, she felt herself reaching out to the one who'd once relied on it.

She began to see the world through his eyes. She saw the pink-haired fairy hovering over him…

"Kaito went to the workshop… do you need anything while he's gone?" she heard her say to him.

The Mouse Queen smirked. "Be a dear and fetch me a blanket?" she said, in his voice.

The fairy left the tent and she willed him to get up and depart into the snow…

* * *

Kaito tried to maintain a sense of calm as Miku shuffled through all of his godfather's toy plans. "Well that's about three different toy carriages… you know, he really should have had a system for this!"

Outside his guards patrolled to keep an eye on both himself and the movements of the mice. He tried to walk himself through how his uncle organized everything, but just the thought of imagining him singing to his toys would break his concentration. Besides, he had so much to think about now.

* * *

 _Kaito watched as Meiko shuffled inside the tent to join her companions. "They said we can have some privacy in here. And they need some time to get the supplies together to start repairing dolls anyway."_

 _Kaito took a spot inside as Gakupo laid out on a cot, Luka kneeling on the floor to be close to him. "So… what did the mice do to make you like this?!" Miku fumed._

 _His disconcerting sigh and stiffening posture didn't reassure his nephew. "They did nothing."_

 _Seeing his uncle struck silent like this was almost as disconcerting as seeing him utterly lifeless in the first place. After a few more uncomfortable moments of silence, the faerie took the initiative the toymaker seemed to no longer possess. "People from the World Beyond, tend to attract magic to them. It knows they don't belong here. Normally that's not a problem… it's utterly harmless."_

 _Gakupo seemed to want to look anywhere but at his companions. "But during certain… emotional… events, it can be far more powerful… it can make terrible wishes come true… it can twist and turn people until they lose all sense of self, and eventually their humanity with it…"_

 _Now Kaito understood why his uncle was so eager to keep his tale to himself. He already felt weak enough that Miku knew of his worst moments, but at least they were in the past._

 _"In Gakupo's case… he allowed it to destroy his heart… and his body became a hollow clockwork shell…"_

 _So many eyes of sympathy and fear fell on his uncle at once that Kaito saw him scowling again. "The circumstances are unimportant," he said gruffly, "I'm not going to die."_

 _"But is there no way to save you?"_

 _Miku sounded so worried… Gakupo's scowl softened. "Don't worry, we're all clever here. We'll think of something."_

 _'He lost his heart… something terrible happened to make him lose his heart… and he made himself become this creature instead…'_

 _He dared not ask… less out of concern that his uncle wouldn't want to share something so personal in front of everyone, but more out of a fear that he knew what event was to blame…_

* * *

Ever since Kaito heard the story in the tent of his uncle's condition, a certain memory kept fighting him to surface. Like a coward, he kept trying to suppress it. He knew how much it would hurt him to remember it. And right now he needed to project what little strength he still had.

But the more his mind turned on these thoughts… the more he began to wonder how many more people could be affected in other ways.

"Oh, look at this! It's a toy cat… he was building them here first… ha, that must be the easiest thing he's ever made for me!"

Luka had no idea where the mice had come from. They emerged as suddenly to her as they had to everyone else. The idea of even an immortal fairy not being able to answer such a question made them appear so much more frightening… but…

"What if the Mouse Twins… weren't always mice?"

Miku stopped her search, the papers scattering around her. "Wait, what?"

He could still imagine Len's terrified crying in the snow. "What if Gakupo isn't the only person who changed because something happened to him?"

Miku's long silence began to worry him. "I… I promise I'm not trying to just make excuses for what I did…"

She fumbled through the papers a few more moments, but Kaito noticed Miku seemed to only be glancing at them. "You were really paying attention to the way the King and Queen fought together too…" she finally said, "Right now, out of all of us, you're the one that's dealt with them the most. Even Meiko only met them once."

She didn't distrust him… she wasn't angry… that gave him some relief.

Unfortunately, she asked the one question he didn't want to answer. "If they are… will you still be able to kill them?"

"I wasn't able to kill them _now_ ," Kaito said, "How will I do it if I know for certain something terrible happened to them!?"

He knew he was supposed to keep these kinds of feelings to himself, even as his heart ached with trying to contain so much. It hurt the people around him to see him weak. Whenever he smiled for them, they always seemed happier if they didn't have to worry about him. But he'd already lost the strength to keep smiling…

"Miku... everyone I've ever cared about has been hurt because of me… if I'd killed him and Rin right then, I could have ended it all, I could have been human again and you could have gone back to your family! If I hadn't messed up the spell, my uncle never would have gotten hurt or lost his heart! And… and…"

For just a brief moment the memory he was trying to keep buried surfaced and he saw the blood on his uncle's coat and felt the horrifying fear that he was going to lose him and _it was all his fault._

So lost in his own emotions was he that he didn't even see Miku approaching him. She looked up at him nervously and he expected her to finally lose her patience with him.

Instead…

… she put her arms around him.

Even though he couldn't feel her, no matter how badly he wanted to, he tried to return her hug as gently as possible. "Kaito… I wish I could do more…" Miku whispered, "Gakupo keeps telling me there's something I need to try that only I can do… I'm supposed to help you… but I couldn't fight either…"

He finally saw it… her tears again, just a few that escaped quietly. He placed his finger on her cheek to catch them.

When he thought he was just a doll, just seeing another person cry felt so strange and abnormal – that such an emotion could compel humans to such a strong physical reaction even more so. But when he was human… he couldn't remember the last time he cried. He couldn't even remember _if_ he could cry when he was human.

All of a sudden Kaito pulled his finger back – he couldn't well reach out and touch people like this! Why had he ever thought it was appropriate!?

Apparently just the act of yanking his hand away caused Miku to let him go. "Sorry! I should have said something first. I just wanted you to feel a little better, that's all… you're family, right?"

She turned away from him and began sorting through the folders of toy plans again. "You know, it'd help more if he alphabetized this…" she muttered under her breath.

Kaito just stared at the back of her head and he started to recall what he'd tried to say to her that last time they were down here. He tried to summon all of his courage to speak… when he saw a small mouse running along the floor.

'How did _that_ get in here?' he thought to himself.

He began to pursue it – after all, he made so much noise wherever he walked that it would be easy for Miku to know he was upstairs. The mouse hopped up the stairs, squeezing under the locked door with incredible ease. The mouse skittered across the floor to the front door, which he found ajar. He quickened his footsteps, his hand on his weapon… he was about to call out to Miku as he heard the sounds of combat outside…

... only to see his uncle engaged in combat with Gumi, Lily and Cul lying helplessly in the snow.

"Sir Drosselmeyer, what's gotten into you!?" Gumi shouted.

Gakupo didn't speak another word as a familiar black lightning sparked along his blade. He swung it just once and a bolt slammed into the hapless doll's body, tossing her roughly into the snow. He saw her twitching and trying to stand, but he already recognized the effects of the magic interfering with her ability to control her body.

Kaito pulled out his weapon, trying to stand between Gakupo and Gumi. "Good, now I needn't fetch you, you ugly little Nutcracker!"

It was Gakupo's voice… but he spoke like a completely different person. Kaito didn't need to have it all spelled out to him. "What have you done to my uncle?!"

He expected more of a reaction, some kind of twisted grimace, but his uncle's face was entirely still. "These are the terms, Nutcracker. You come with him, and you come alone. You surrender on sight. And I don't crush this little toymaker's heart between my paws."

He looked back to the open door of the workshop. Whoever was manipulating Gakupo might not have known Miku was inside.

"My brother is feeling quite generous right now since you spared his life. So we'll spare yours as well if you behave."

And it was far too obvious what choice he was going to make…

'I'm sorry Miku…'

* * *

Miku finally rested her hands on the blueprint she'd been seeking. She recognized the delicate heart shape. "Okay… the notes are pretty detailed… but surely Gakupo can walk me through the hard stuff…"

Hopefully he was still just human enough to help her out.

"Kaito, we can go now!" she called out.

When he didn't answer, she started counting in her head how long it had been since she'd heard his clunky wooden footsteps. Miku rolled up the blueprint and ran up the stairs. Why had she let him out of her sight for even a second!? Why had she expected the meager guards could secure the place?

She ran out into the cold, seeing Luka hovering over Lily, holding her white magical orb over her body. "Easy… you're not going to die…" she said to the doll, "I'm mending the damage to your spirit."

"Lord… Drosselmeyer…" the blonde choked, "The Mouse Queen is manipulating him somehow…"

Luka held her tighter. "He came this way?!"

The blonde began to point out into the forest. Miku spotted two sets of footprints. "The Nutcracker is going to surrender to them."

Without even waiting to make sure someone was behind her, Miku darted off into the snow. Even as the light faded, she tried to keep an eye out for his final location. 'Kaito, why do you think you don't matter!? Why do you always give up so easily?!'

But what could she expect when even her godfather was being turned against him?!

'I won't let you take them both from me!' she thought, her lungs burning as she kept up her mad pace.

She just barely saw Kaito in the back of the Mouse Queen's sleigh, Gakupo sitting across from him, a lifeless expression on his face as he stared out into nothing. "KAITO!" she screamed, "Kaito, get out of there!"

The mice didn't even bother to acknowledge her, but Kaito's head turned her way. As his painted eyes met hers, a smile crossed his face.

And then he was gone as the sleigh kicked up a burst of snow.

They were both gone.

She tripped over herself in the snow as her futile pursuit ended. As she collapsed onto the ground, every chance she had of going home seemed to slip away.

"Miku! Miku, where are you?!"

The white glow of Luka's light illuminated the forest around Miku, and she stood up slowly. "Miku, did you see them!?"

Apparently her crest-fallen face was all the answer the faerie needed. "I… I couldn't stop them…" she whimpered.

She stared up into the faerie's worried eyes. "Luka, just summon another sled and horse and we'll be right after them!"

The faerie's face appeared solemn. "I can't create solid matter like that…"

"Well… well… what about flying!? We could fly after them and snatch them off the sleigh and…"

Luka folded her hands in front of her. "I… I can't fly either. Neither of us can."

Miku clenched her fists in the snow. "What about… teleporting! You said you could move people across worlds and…"

"I can manipulate people across the worlds because the barriers are very weak," Luka explained, "Even then, I can only do it when I know both points. I know nothing of where to send us, and if I teleported us into the castle…"

"If you're so powerful, why can't you do _anything?!_ "

The faerie fell utterly silent as Miku collapsed into the snow after her outburst. "Why can't… I… do anything?" she said as she began to sob.

'I can't go home… I'm too fragile and weak against them… I'm stuck here and… and I'll never see them again… Mother… Mikuo…'

She felt like she was suffocating as her body began to stiffen up. Her body felt like it was being crushed by an unseen force. 'I belong here… forever…'

A fine glaze began to cover her skin as it shone like porcelain…

* * *

Kaito stared ahead at his uncle. "You can't keep making that face at me forever, you know," he said.

Yet Gakupo didn't even bother to speak to him. "You didn't make him be quiet, did you?!" Kaito demanded of the sleigh's driver.

Rin simply laughed at his request. "He's not leaving the sleigh, but I don't really care if he blathers at you or not!"

Kaito turned back to his silent uncle. "Okay, then… why are you giving me the silent treatment? This is usually the part where you start telling some story and trying to trick me into something wild!"

Finally, Kaito leaned in as close as he could get. "Uncle…" he said in a low voice, "I know it seems so dire, but if you think about it right… we're going to the place we needed to be… I can get your heart back and stop the both of them a lot easier when they drop their guard in their castle than on a battlefield ready to fight…"

He glanced over to Rin and Len, hoping they couldn't hear him at all. "Uncle… I know what's happening to you. It happened to me, didn't it? When I fell asleep?"

The painful memories tried to surface again, his uncle covered in blood, the mice threatening to keep killing everyone around him…

"Why, Kaito?"

The voice coming out of Gakupo sounded unnervingly mechanical, yet to Kaito's eyes his body still appeared to be made of flesh.

"Why did you give up?"

So Gakupo knew. Maybe he'd known the second he found that little wooden doll on his bed instead of his nephew.

"Because… I didn't want anyone else to be hurt. Because I knew what I was didn't matter anymore. If I just faded away, the mice might leave all of you alone and I wouldn't have to feel anything anymore."

The memories started to erupt in his head. The temptation of forgetting, of slumbering endlessly without dreams… no more running, no more enduring, only a peaceful quiet existence of nothingness where nobody would have to worry for him…

"… Uncle, did I do this to you?"

Gakupo remained silent at this question.

"Did I cause you to lose your heart?"

The fact that his uncle refused to look at him seemed to answer far more than what mere words could offer. "It's not so difficult to succumb…" his uncle finally said, "And your burden was heavier than many. Mine was… far heavier than you could have expected."

Finally Kaito leaned back as he noticed out of the corner of his eye that he was being watched by the Mouse King himself.

"Uncle, can I tell you a story? You can tell me later if it's as good as any of yours."

The longer he kept Gakupo's attention, the more he hoped his uncle would stay with him in spirit even as his body kept decaying on him.

"Once upon a time, there was a brave, kind, and clever girl who never lost her faith in anyone. One day she went into a dark forest with her friends, a wizard, a soldier, and a princess. But the woods were enchanted, and they soon lost their way, finding only a boy made of wood…"

"So, a wooden boy and a clever girl? I wonder if I know anyone like that…"

Though Gakupo's tone showed some amusement, his face stayed completely unmoved. Kaito hoped Gakupo might at least smile, then he began to worry that perhaps he'd already lost that ability. 'Still, he's hanging on… I'll do what I can…'

As Kaito kept telling his own little fantastical tale, he looked out into the snow where he'd been forced to leave Miku behind. He'd wanted so badly to shout to her, but all he could do safely was smile for the "clever girl" he still believed in…

* * *

"Miss Luka, I came as soon as I could… what in the stars is happening to her?! What's that black aura all over her?!"

She was vaguely aware of someone touching her, but the further she sank into the darkness, the less she felt anything.

"Miku! Please, listen to me! You're becoming unmoored, you're losing yourself! That magic is trying to swallow you up!"

She could barely hear Luka's voice trying to pierce the darkness crowding in around her.

"So this is how it happens, just as with Drosselmeyer… no, I shan't accept that! Miku, whatever you think this is supposed to accomplish, I guarantee you it's not going to help!"

'But I can't help… I can't save them…'

"What's this nonsense you're babbling… by the stars, her hair is glazing over! Miss Luka, is there anything else we can try?! Can you dispel this foul magic?!"

'I can't do anything without him…'

She felt as fragile as glass.

"It's just as with Kaito and Gakupo… I can't lift that magic on my own… I'm not… She must fight it herself. That's all I know."

The person holding her let out an angry growl. "You! You listen to me! Are you seriously going to tell me all those grand promises you made me last night were _meaningless_?! All that talk about fighting the Mouse King and taking Kaito home with you!?"

'But… but I already lost him, didn't I?'

"Princess… are you sure this shouting is going to help?"

The faerie's voice held more curiosity than anything else. And it seemed to be unceasing to the princess' anger.

"You demanded my loyalty, no matter what! I kept to my vows, now what about you, Miku?!"

She thought of Kaito's lifeless body in the cavern as she swore to stay by his side and never leave him.

"Are you abandoning him next?!"

 _"If you lose sight of yourself, your identity, your goals, your old home… that same magic can break you until you forget who or what you were."_

Her godfather's warning drifted into her ears. Did she really want to become a fragile, cowardly doll, constantly hiding lest the slightest thing break her again?

Would either Kaito or Gakupo want that?

She tried to think of as many things as she could that would anchor her again. She thought of her brother, constantly teasing her and breaking her toys with his recklessness… but always coming to her brave defense if she was harassed by childhood bullies and setting up elaborate stories with his soldiers and her dolls. She remembered her last fight with her mother as her application for finishing school went out the door… and she remembered how the poor woman mourned so harshly after the passing of her father, until Miku sang his favorite song for her and how wonderful it was to see her mother smile again. She thought of how Gakupo was always encouraging her, always believing in her, and always loving her and how Kaito would make her feel courageous and brave just by smiling for her.

Kaito… had smiled for her. When they took him away, he'd smiled… so she wouldn't give up.

She wanted to see his smile again.

All of these thoughts she focused on, trying to project her spirit outwards as the magic tried to crush it…

The glaze along her skin began to crack before loudly shattering and disappearing. As her body returned to normal, Miku became aware that Meiko was holding her and staring right at her with intense brown eyes. "Is that the last of it?" the princess whispered.

Miku realized she now owed her humanity to the stuffy rude princess who'd basically shouted it back into her. Yet now that very person looked so worried for her. She swallowed and smiled weakly. "I think I'm okay now…"

She noticed Luka kneeling in the snow right next to Miku… with tears running down her face as she delicately wiped them away. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you…" she said, "I didn't know what to do… if the princess hadn't arrived…"

"… I'm sorry for yelling at you… none of this is your fault…" Miku said sheepishly.

"You did WHAT?!"

Meiko started shaking her on hearing those words. "You can't go around yelling at faeries like Miss Luka! You owe her a far grander apology than that-"

"That's enough, Princess."

On hearing her idol's voice, Meiko calmed her tirade and finally released Miku as she rubbed her aching arms. "My powers aren't what they should be. We faeries aren't meant to keep dropping out of the sky like this, we have to go back and recover our strength… but… the last time I was up there… I wasn't here when _he_ needed me."

The sadness in her voice meant neither Meiko no Miku needed to be told who "he" was. The faerie's eyes cast skyward. "Perhaps I really am to blame for these awful events… I didn't foresee them. I could have warned everyone had I been divining more faithfully instead of partaking of my fanciful whims…"

Miku actually found herself smiling wryly. "It seems like everyone here blames themselves for the misfortunes of others…" she said, "That can't possibly be helping any of us though. Besides, you've done so much already… I wouldn't have even gotten to know Gakupo if you hadn't saved him with that heart…"

"And Miss Luka… you made many people happy every time you danced," Meiko said softly, "You didn't just dance for yourself. And I doubt Drosselmeyer would have been half the inventor he was if he didn't have you helping him."

For the first time, Miku thought Luka was smiling from genuine happiness, even if the generally somber mood tinted her enthusiasm. Miku finally pulled out the rolled up blueprints in her coat, staring at them sadly. "I'd hoped I could get this to him in time…" Miku said, "I'm sure I could put the mechanics together, but I don't know the first thing about the stardust…"

Luka stopped staring at the sky and looked at the parchment in Miku's hands. "Oh my… you were going to try and build him a new heart?!"

She pulled back, her eyes closed in thought. "Hmmm… well it obviously won't be the same as the one he was using, filled with the emotions and years of two people… not to mention we don't have the time to take it up to the heavens and run around with it… but even so…"

Miku heard voices out in the trees and watched lanterns approaching. "Princess Pirlipat! Are you safe?!"

The three women rose from the snow. "They must have thought I lost my mind…" Meiko said sheepishly, "I came down to the workshop and found Gumi, Lily, and Cul in a mess… they told me everything and I ran off after you once I knew they were safe…"

Sure enough, the first person to appear was Gumi, trying to keep the flames of the lantern as far from her rubber face as possible. "Oh, you're all okay! Lily, Cul, they're back here!"

Gumi looked around expectantly but noticed two people missing. "Oh… oh… poor Sir Drosselmeyer, being twisted by the mice like that! It must have hurt him so…"

Soon enough Gumi's commanding officers emerged from the trees. "Princess Pirlipat, I'm glad the mice left you alone!" Cul said with a smile.

Meiko looked to the three of them and straightened up – Miku wasn't entirely used to how fast she shifted into her "regal" persona. "Can you please gather up the officers? We must pursue the mice at once and rescue the Nutcracker and Lord Drosselmeyer…"

"Princess, we don't exactly have the man power to pursue him…" Lily said, "Not into the mice's domain anyway."

'It's the same problem as with the workshop…' Miku thought to herself, 'There's more mice than there are use, and they're expecting us…'

'… then… we need a similar solution…'

"Um… Gumi? How many of the dolls can operate the machinery in the workshop?"

Gumi saluted, even though Miku wasn't even a military official. "Plenty of us can, miss!" she said as though reading off a report, "All of the Gearbolt Girls got drafted in this unit!"

Meiko looked over to Miku in shock. "What are you planning on doing, throwing toys at the mice?!" she said, her eyes wide.

Miku rolled up the blueprints again and stuffed them back into her coat. "Well, when I was going through Gakupo's old toy plans, I did find one that might be useful to us… we don't have enough metal for an army of soldiers, but… we do have enough metal for one giant toy…"

And she knew _exactly_ what kind of toy she'd need if she wanted to shake up the mice. "I don't need sleep… if the dolls can take shifts with me, we could have it ready by morning if Luka can show me how to forge stardust!"

She looked hopefully to the faerie, who nodded her head. "I _was_ the person who taught him… besides, I can assure you the stardust nodes will be much more powerful when forged by a faerie instead of his machines."

Meiko looked hopefully to her soldiers. "None of us are going to say no to helping the Boss…" Cul said, looking to Lily who nodded in agreement, "Even the ones who don't know how should be okay…"

"Dolls are great at taking orders!" Gumi said, pumping her fist in the air, "We can do this!"

"If I may offer," Luka added, "I can't conjure living creatures out of thin air, but if I concentrate hard enough, I could cast an illusion wide enough to cover the entire army."

"Do you think they'll listen to me?" Meiko said, "These aren't my father's orders…"

Miku smiled for her. "You're their princess! You can take charge of them, just rally their spirits to victory!"

Now it was Meiko's turn to blush. "You make it sound so easy!"

So they finally had something. One desperate idea.

'Kaito… you better not have been exaggerating about the speed of that assembly,' Miku thought, 'Because right now, it's the only thing I have to save you.'

* * *

As the sleigh moved through an army of what had to be hundreds of mice, Kaito tried to keep himself calm as a massive, run down castle stood within the snow. The front door creaked open as it began to approach the innards of the imposing fortress. He still had no idea what the royals had planned for him or for Gakupo. They may not wish to kill him, but they still wanted revenge against him, right?

"Kaito…"

Gakupo's voice sounded so hoarse now.

"That story you told me…. About the clever girl and the wooden boy…"

"Oh, did you like it?!" Kaito asked excitedly.

Even as Gakupo's voice still retained hints of the person he truly was, his body had become almost entirely indistinguishable from one of his creations. "It wasn't a bad story… you need some practice… but it wasn't bad at all…"

He turned his face to his nephew, Kaito staring at painted metal and gray eyes. "You seemed rather fond of the girl…"

Kaito tried to ignore the jeering around him. "I believe in her with all my heart!"

All at once the mice swarmed the sleigh. Kaito tried to fight back as Gakupo was pulled away from him, before he was dragged out and slammed into the ground so hard his torso was scuffed up.

"The toymaker can rot in the dungeon until we're ready for him!" the Queen shouted.

Len's sword pressed into the Nutcracker's face. "As for you… we need a night's entertainment to celebrate our victory."

* * *

 **A/N:**

I… aaaaaam… Iron Gakuuuuuuuu! Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head?!

Oh, I'm sorry, that's not a Vocaloid song and it's older than me and all of my readers XD Still, now you're all going to sing it :P

No, none of this is in the book, or a ballet, or anything else. I'm going rogue, people! Well, actually, the title of the chapter is from the book…

Again, in case it wasn't super obvious, the flashback with Luka featured her performing in Swan Lake, with herself as Odette and Chika as Odile (aka the Black Swan). Many productions have both characters played by a single ballerina, as Odile appears in disguise, but others incorporate a second ballerina. I did the latter since it let me sneak in another Vocaloid. The ending of the show is normally a tragedy, but it depends on the production, so let's hope for Kaito's sake he saw a version where the swan lived ;)

Oh Mayu, making a return appearance? Apparently strangling her toy rabbit is how she uses it as a microphone according to Exit Tunes… for once it wasn't just me being crazy.

Actually, there is one more plot thread that's sort of from the novel. The warning to Miku that only she can protect the Nutcracker and that the trial is hers to undertake originates from there. Except… in the novel Marie's horrific sacrifice is giving up her Christmas sweets to the mice night after night so they don't kill the Nutcracker. Well, she is an eight year old in the book, that's probably a much bigger stake at that age ;) What does Miku have to do here? Well the story isn't over yet, but no, don't expect the problem to be solved with sugar dolls and marzipan balls.


	10. Chapter 10: The Lost Ones

Chapter 10: The Lost Ones

The great clockwork man fought relentlessly against its captors as they tried to restrain it. Every time they tried to lay their hands on it, it violently threw them across the dungeon, leaving more clouds of smoke as they died outright. Just one blow from its steel arms shattered its foes instantly.

For all of the rage it seemed to display in its actions, however, its face stayed eerily still. The cold metal plates forming its face possessed no structure to allow it to project emotions, and so it stayed still. But it cared not, for all that remained of it stayed aware of the Nutcracker's fate. The one it had lost and failed. And being separated from its charge only made it more inclined to fight with them.

Nothing could contain the clockwork man. When it found itself inside of a cage, its steel hands easily bent the thick bars until it could wrench them out and hurl them at its captors. When they attempted to chain it to a wall, it simply ripped out the chains and leapt from the wall, the loose manacles still jangling along its wrists and ankles.

The only reason it had yet to escape properly was the utter ferocity and endless numbers of mice swearing their loyalty to the Mouse Crown… and the occasional pacification of the one who'd controlled it.

It felt no fear or weariness or anger. It felt nothing as the beasts banged and pounded on its casing. It simply had orders ingrained in it since its creation, and it would follow them to the letter.

"Queen Rin, Queen Rin!"

The Mouse Queen stood at the back of the dungeon. It recognized her at once and it began to charge at her with blinding speed, its powerful leg joints propelling it forward far faster than any mortal creature.

Then all at once its shell shook as if the fiercest lightning coursed through an empty portion of its chest cavity. Though it sensed no pain, its ability to control its body stopped and the clockwork man collapsed to the floor. "Hmph… once I've handled the Nutcracker, I'll have to see how to deal with his outbursts… this is the _third_ time I've had to wander down here and shut it off!"

On hearing the name of the one it was meant to protect, it sprang up again, its eyes upon the tiny toy heart she clutched in her paws. "How IMPERTINENT! You will stand down!"

This time it managed to take several more steps when the lightning coursed through it, and even as it collapsed it tried to pull itself forward along the floor before finally it lost all control of its arms. It saw the fear in the Mouse Queen's eyes.

"You and this miserable heart…" she murmured, "It's controlling you less and less each moment… and trying to worm its way into my soul…"

It watched her clutch the toy tightly. "I'm going to use it to destroy him. Then you'll understand why depending on him makes you so weak."

The Mouse Queen departed the dungeon, her long tail swishing behind her.

Even though her magic still interfered with its proper operation, it still continuously attempted to move its limbs and fight again. All the while the remaining mice started to drag it away, wrapping layers of chains around it. It had no thoughts or feelings, no recollection of any other individual being.

All it remembered was that final wish to preserve itself for eternity, in this metal body free of human flaws, so it would always be able to protect _him_.

* * *

The steady hum of the assembly kept Miku's courage steady. As long as it was working… as long as everything came together fast enough…

She sat in one of the old workbenches, an assortment of tools and gears surrounding her table… and a small gold heart-shaped case in which she inlaid them. She felt grateful that Gakupo had taken such exhaustive notes, but she'd never expected that the first toys she'd build would be intended to save _lives_.

The night wore on around her as she kept at her task, setting every piece together. Her lack of sleep only drove her further – if she couldn't rest, then she could keep working. Kaito had bought them time – the mice cared far more about him than anyone else, and they would leave the army and the workshop be.

"Lady Miku!"

Miku looked up from her desk as Gumi approached her and saluted. "Ah… you don't have to call me that…" Miku said to the nervous girl.

"Oh… um… I just thought, since you're Sir Drosselmeyer's goddaughter and all… and you're the boss now and…"

This was _not_ a battle worth fighting. "Lady Miku is fine."

"The automaton's shell should be ready by sunup!" she reported cheerfully, "Um…. I don't think the place you're intending to ride on it will be very comfortable though…"

Miku looked over as she saw a thin, rounded metal tail carried outside by several of the doll workers. "It doesn't have to be comfortable," Miku said, "It just has to walk as far as their castle."

And what a surprise they were going to have when she got there.

"How's everyone holding up?" Miku asked, "You remembered to sleep, right?"

The rubber doll clapped her hands together, causing them to bounce from the contact with the elastic "skin". "We took shifts through the night!" Gumi said cheerfully, "But I'd like you to know that I haven't had to sleep a wink because I'm way too excited!"

She started swinging her arms around like she was already back on the battlefield. "Oh, we're going to just… march right in there and drag Sir Drosselmeyer back and burn the whole place down on the way back! It's going to be WONDERFUL!"

Before Miku could worry too much more about the suddenly violent doll, her absence at her workplace drew some attention as a certain blonde doll stared over at her.

"GUMI! Stop wasting time! We need you on the paw assembly!"

On hearing Lily scolding her, Gumi shook up. "Ah… right away, Corporal Lily!" she shouted, running back to the manufacturing lines.

"It would make him so happy to see this…"

Miku looked over to see Luka leaning at the edge of a small support beam nearby, eagerly watching the dolls scurrying around the factory at full production. "Seeing the people he trained and believed in working so hard to get him back…"

Just the thought of Gakupo seemed to set her into a true smile. Luka turned to Miku and she blushed as Luka turned that glowing smile on her. "Especially you."

The pigtailed would-be toymaker _really_ didn't know how to handle the previously stoic faerie emoting so strongly. Before she had to spend too long being embarrassed, Luka set down a small box. "The stardust, right?" Miku said as she recognized the strange runes.

"Indeed… Gakupo had a machine that he could use to forge it, but…"

Luka opened the lid of the box and Miku gasped as she saw a powdery substance, like glowing golden glitter. "The magic will be far more effective if we do it like this. And right now… we need all the magic I can summon."

The faerie tugged a glove from her hand, running her hands through the powder and grabbing a small amount in her palm. "Just put your hand over mine."

Miku rested her tools and pressed her own palm over Luka's. The faerie closed her grip over Miku's hand, the woman's light blue fingernails reminding Miku of the sky itself. "Okay… I don't know if Gakupo did anything special to make that heart work besides using the nodes to keep it ticking… so I'll have to try and come up with something to imbue the stardust with while we make it. So it acts as similar to the one he created as possible."

"And… what am I going to do?" Miku asked nervously.

Luka's grip remained steady and light. "You're the creator. Give it the command you need it to follow, and focus on nothing but that."

Miku tried to think of what she needed to say. She glanced over the plans Gakupo had left behind, and a certain series of phrases seemed out of place – hardly technical instructions. 'Maybe that's what Gakupo commanded the heart to use?'

She started with the first. _Listen to the pace of my heart._

As she tried to focus on nothing but those words, she felt a tingling sensation in her hand. The dust compressed into a tight round object right under her closed palm. As the tingling ceased, Miku lifted her hand to see a small, shiny pebble resting in Luka's outstretched palm. "Luka, did you teach him to do it like… _that?_ "

The faerie seemed confounded by Miku's curiosity. "Should I have found another way?"

Miku already could imagine her godfather with the hand of the faerie he'd fallen for clenched tightly in his… how in the world had Gakupo ever managed to pierce Luka's heart when she seemed so utterly detached from these delicate matters?

Luka rested the node on the table. "How many more do we need?" she asked.

Miku checked the notes. "Just two more… I guess because it's a pretty simple design."

"My, but that's still more than he'd need just for a perpetually ticking clockwork mechanism…" Luka remarked, grasping another handful of stardust. "All right, same as before. Focus on the command, and I'll provide the magic."

In Gakupo's neat handwriting were the words _Release the spring in time with my heartbeat._

Taking a toy this seriously… Miku focused on the words, but in the back of her mind she mused on how much this simple gift had meant to Gakupo. It had no real practical purpose, and a child wouldn't get much out of it. But he'd given this to Luka, and placed so much of his emotions into it. He simply used the skills he had to express himself beyond simply words.

Someday she wanted to craft something with this much meaning… for someone she cared about…

Luka set the next pebble down. "You're doing very well," she said, "You've got a very strong will, so it should listen to you right away. Kaito's star nodes were always so chaotic… he's got a strong heart, but he never seemed comfortable trying to impose himself even on a toy."

As Luka gathered another handful of stardust, she added "You should try teaching him… he seems a lot more receptive to you."

"Ahh… r-r-really?"

Miku tried to hide her brief embarrassment for Luka's sake as she read the next phrase.

 _Remember my love and never cease._

"Miku, is something wrong?"

Clearly the flustered look on her face said everything. Luka glanced over at the paper. "Oh… I see… that must be a little difficult since you're not in love with _me_ …"

At first Miku thought the concept meant nothing to the faerie, but the tender way her fingertips traced the words on the page spoke far more than her words. More and more Miku was starting to understand that Luka's methods of expressing herself consisted of these subtler cues.

"Well, I'm sure I don't have to be the focus… just think of someone you love dearly and use that emotion instead," she said in a reassuring voice, "Someone you'd want to keep by your side forever. It could be a family member, or a dear friend… I'm certain you have plenty of people you love."

As Miku tried to keep the words constant and strong, she pictured someone who meant everything in the world to her in this very moment…

With the last node forged and set upon her work table, Miku carefully set each one in its place inside of her first clockwork creation. Snapping the case shut, she wound it up with the key in its back and held her breath…

… a familiar ticking emerged from within the case…

"I did it… I really did it…" Miku whispered in awe.

She gently rested it on the table. It had passed the first test, but that still didn't mean she'd built a magical artifact capable of healing a person with no heart…

Miku saw the welcome face of Meiko walking down the assembly line, checking on every one of her soldiers. She saw her dismiss one or two of the dolls who seemed to be drooping from exhaustion along her march. "The army will do far better if you're well-rested than if you collapse from exhaustion," she assured a red haired wooden boy, "I promise, Private Fukase, you've done a great deal of service already."

Seeing the previously sharp tongued princess taken over by tenderness was a strange sight in and of itself. "She's come so far…" Luka said quietly, "I had hoped spending time amongst her people might open her eyes, but this is far more than I could have hoped."

"So you _did_ pay attention to her before," Miku said slyly.

Luka pulled her white glove back over her fingers. "The needs of mortals are something we're not meant to be interfering with," she said calmly, "But that does not prevent me from having opinions on them."

"But aren't you interfering with them right now?"

As the dolls pounded at a tall metal leg, Luka looked pensive. "I used to think it was his influence on me…" she said quietly, "But… I was always the faerie that descended the heavens the most. I always watched and wondered how they functioned. He was just… so very different from any mortal I'd ever pulled from your world that I couldn't help but try and be braver and bolder to try and understand how it all really felt and then…"

The faerie's blue eyes met Miku's and her smile had returned to its normal neutrality. "Miku, of everyone here, you're the one I know the least aside from what I've been told. When you go home, what will you do with your life?"

Such a probing question buried in her previously whimsical musings caught the pigtailed girl off guard. Miku looked to the clockwork heart, still ticking at her desk. "I… I don't know yet… I've no idea how long its going to be when I return… or when the finishing school will start or…"

"So you'll go back to being an ordinary young lady."

Hearing it spoken with such finality didn't rest well with Miku. "No! I… well, Gakupo will be back home, and Kaito too… I think I'll try and go back to making toys. Once I can convince my family I know what I'm doing, it shouldn't be so hard to convince mother to let me pursue my own path."

She thought back to how happy Oliver was just to have his toy bird back. "Finally getting to do it, even like this… I don't want to let that fade."

If she could just get her mother to see things that way…

'But… as long as I get Gakupo home okay, he'll stick up for me! She might actually listen to him! And… Kaito…'

Kaito would be a normal human boy. She'd have to introduce him to everyone… she could already imagine how wonderful it would be to walk through her garden again and actually talk to him. To hold his hand and feel the warmth within his grasp…

As long as he defeated the Mouse King and Queen…

"Luka, is it possible that… the Mouse Royalty, the twins… that they're humans? Like me or Oliver? Or… like Gakupo?"

Luka rubbed her hands together. "It's certainly within the realm of possibility… I didn't bring them here, and none of my kin seemed aware of bringing a pair of humans like them. But humans _have_ slipped into our world unnoticed before."

Miku traced one of her fingers along the casing of her still-ticking clockwork heart. "That's not good… Kaito already thinks they're human children, and I doubt he'll kill them… isn't there another way to defeat them that will still release him from his curse?"

The faerie never met her eyes. "Killing the mice is certainly the most _efficient_ … the most direct… and the surest method…"

Even Miku could read more into what Luka wasn't saying. "But not the only one… is there another?"

Silence fell over Luka as she contemplated the question. "I should certainly hope not…" she said quietly, "But if Kaito chooses that path, I don't know how to help him short of ensuring they don't kill him first."

Already Miku could remember those horrible moments when the life was nearly choked out of her and her body became as fragile as one of her bisque porcelain dolls. How much she could have lost had she not had Meiko and Luka shouting at her. What would that feel like to someone who didn't understand what was happening to them?

… what would drive two children to become such powerful creatures of hate?

* * *

Kaito found himself dragged across the throne room, the manacles around his wrists and feet clattering around his hard wooden ankles. For once he was glad he couldn't feel anything given how roughly the mice were treating him, but it wasn't exactly pleasant hearing himself getting scuffed and scraped up either. His guards gripped his chains tightly as they approached a large stone pillar facing a pair of tattered thrones.

"Nutcracker goes here!" one of them hissed, gripping his hands with their paws and pulling them out behind them as they attached the chains binding his arms to the pillar.

Once he was done being roughed up, Kaito took in his surroundings with care. He'd been told this was a royal court, but he'd seen a royal court before and these shabby surroundings didn't seem fit for one. He could make out some torn banners on the walls, and a stained carpet around the worn wooden thrones. 'Perhaps this is what the King and Queen of Mice consider to be finery?' he thought to himself.

He heard the great doors creak open behind him and the mouse guards surrounding him fell to their knees at once. He pressed up against the pillar and craned his head as far as he could – which admittedly wasn't far as a Nutcracker's head wasn't built for exceptional turning. The Queen marched forward, carrying her skirts above her black shoes. In lockstep behind her was her King, who glared at Kaito over his long whiskers. Each one took their seats, staring down the few assembled in their throne room.

"Dismissed," Len said.

The command went unquestioned as the other mice scurried out of the court, closing the doors tightly. Kaito just stared up at his captors, waiting for them to make the first move – in his position, he wasn't about to rescue anyone. Slowly Queen Rin pulled the very artifact he sought out of her dress – the still ticking clockwork heart.

"Drosselmeyer yet lives, little Nutcracker," she said ominously, "But I wonder about you. From what you stated on the carriage, your existence is rather precarious, is it not?"

'AH! They were listening!'

He was still certain he hadn't given anything too important away though…

"Indeed, I wondered how you came to be so small and unsightly when we finally found you amongst the humans," Len said, "But it sounds as if you're under a far more powerful magic than we expected."

So they hadn't understood his explanation... that was good, he hoped. But then again, if they didn't understand what had really happened to him…

'Does that mean I'm wrong and they really are just monsters?'

The clockwork heart began to levitate in Rin's hands. "Drosselmeyer's treasure possesses many secrets… one of them is the way it can burrow into another's heart and see all…"

"I… I don't think it was supposed to do that…" Kaito stammered.

Of course he remembered that heart – Luka always had it with her. He'd long grown used to hearing its familiar ticking whenever she was close. Just being told that it had the power to keep his uncle alive had been a surprise, but Gakupo _had_ used stardust nodes to power it…

The heart levitated between the two thrones. "Now Len, what should we see first?"

Kaito could have cringed at Len's dark smile. "Hmmm… this little Nutcracker is so insistent on his faith in others… I'd like to see how that worked out for him…"

Rin began to fire little bolts into the heart and -

* * *

 _"Get out of here, you ugly Nutcracker! I won't have you bringing any more of your misery to us!"_

 _His vision went dark as the heavy bucket slammed into his head. He stumbled around for a moment – he hadn't actually been able to feel the impact, but clearly this strange new body could still suffer damage._

 _"I-I'm sorry, I just needed something for Drosselmeyer! Please, I can't let him starve!"_

 _The old human woman stared him down in fear. Just days ago she had been "the nice baker that gives out the cookies", but she had no such kindness for a Nutcracker._

 _She grabbed a loaf of bread and threw it at the poor boy. "Take it and go!"_

 _He scurried back into the shadows of the alleyways. If he were just a human, he could disguise himself, but a Nutcracker? He was just too obvious!_

 _He finally found his uncle again, speaking in hushed tones with a kind older gentleman. He was starting to get used to the face of shock upon being seen, but the second his uncle turned to him a smile formed anyway. 'My uncle is already so sad and lonely because of me… I have to help him…'_

 _But even as he smiled, his heart felt tight and tense… would everyone see him like this from now on? How many more friends would turn on him?_

 _'Pirlipat…'_

* * *

Kaito shook as the memory departed. It wasn't just a memory for him – it was _real_. Even more real than the illusions he'd faced in the Crystalline Cavern. "Hmph. Humans are really the worst," Rin said, "Turning so quickly on their own…"

"That old lady never did like me…" Len growled, "Chased me with a broom when I helped myself to her cheesecake…"

"Gakupo and Luka never abandoned me!" Kaito shouted as he tried to banish the awful thoughts again.

"Hmph… let's see how that turned out?"

* * *

 _Too fast… the mice were too fast… the toymaker's blood stained his lovely violet coat with tones of red…_

 _He'd never felt such rage before as he did in this moment. All he wanted in those seconds was for every one of those awful creatures to die…_

 _The black smoke gave him little satisfaction though – the mice were dead, but his uncle was still wounded. He turned to him – with some relief, his uncle was still alive. The wound wasn't lethal but…_

 _It had come so close… all because he was there… if he was gone his uncle would be safe…_

* * *

Kaito tried to wrench himself back out of it as those terrible thoughts took hold of him again. 'I can't let this take me, Uncle needs me to save him now!'

But even now the mice had him in their grip… because they needed to get to _him_.

He looked up at his captors and saw… horror? "That was… blood…" Rin murmured.

Len was clutching at his chest. "It was like I… felt it too…"

"Of course it was blood!" Kaito shouted, "That was a human you all tried to kill!"

Rin didn't meet his eyes. 'Did they not understand?' Kaito thought to himself, 'Ah! No, everything they've tried to kill has been a doll… and we don't die… not like that anyway.'

The realization felt sickening to him. 'So they didn't even understand how serious this was… to them it's just toys…'

Before Kaito could seize on that realization and appeal to his captors, the heart lifted again. "No, something else! I want you to suffer! I want you to SLEEP!" Rin shouted out.

* * *

 _"Get that horrible ugly nutcracker away from me!"_

 _Her words rattled in his head as they fled their home. This boxy wooden body of his felt so bizarre and foreign… rather, it felt nothing at all. Running and walking and touching things became guesswork because he couldn't sense them. A cold winter's wind, a hot sun, the touch of another person…_

 _He'd done this to himself… he had such a simple set of instructions to follow and he'd failed them._

 _And now he'd ruined his uncle's life as well._

 _"I know people within the city that will help us…" the toymaker said to him as they pounded through the streets, "I'm certain they'll help us."_

* * *

"YES! That's more like it! More like that!"

Kaito couldn't even prepare himself before the next memory slammed into him…

* * *

 _"Auntie Luka is… gone?"_

 _The toymaker looked dazed. "She… can't help me, can she?"_

 _"I didn't say that!" he said, trying to sound as assuring as possible, "She didn't know how to help you **now**. She'll come find us once we know how to break the spell."_

 _But how long would that be?_

 _He tried to smile anyway. After all, now his uncle was even more isolated than ever… because of him. Trying to be even more of a burden would be cruel._

 _"You're right!" he said cheerfully, "Auntie Luka's really smart, so I'm sure you won't have to wait that long to see her again!"_

* * *

'But he did have to wait! He waited 15 years and I… I cost him his heart!'

The memories grew further and further fragmented as they rushed at him and he felt that familiar pressure building around him all over again… he was back in his room and wishing he didn't exist anymore… he was only good at causing problems… they wouldn't miss him…

"That's right… you shouldn't put your faith in anyone, you miserable doll," Rin said coldly.

"Other people… are useless."

With the unending bombardment tormenting him, he started to succumb, everything going dark… the endless dreamless sleep cried out to him once more…

* * *

The army of dolls marched through the morning snow. Miku, Meiko, and Luka rode atop the night's work – a gigantic clockwork cat. Miku maneuvered levers behind its head to keep it walking – they didn't have nearly enough stardust to make such a great creature move on its own. But Luka had forged something to use inside of it.

Slowly the great black castle rose in the distance. She could barely make out the large army outside of the castle.

"To think my father wanted these poor dolls to keep hurling themselves at that…" Meiko muttered, "When this battle is done and my kingdom is safe… I intend to have some words with him."

Luka remained silent – Miku suspected at this point she was simply trying to stay focused. The giant cat was only _part_ of their plan, and Luka herself had to provide the magic for the rest of the plan.

Even so, Miku still wished her family and friends could see what she'd made today… what she'd directed the other dolls working with her godfather's machinery to accomplish…

"We're finally close enough…" Luka whispered.

She held out her arms, spreading them like wings and holding them parallel to the earth. This time instead of the white orb appearing in front of her, a shower of pink sparkling glitter fell from her hands, drifting through the air and coating the people below her. Miku watched below as the dolls surrounding her took on a distinctly feline appearance.

"AH! A wonderful cat's life!" Miku heard Gumi shout. Miku chuckled at the doll, now covered in white fur with her green hair bouncing around as a pair of white ears emerged from inside of it. _"I am graceful. Meow meow meow! I eat delicious meals and sleep on a fluffy bed!_ "

"Private, focus! We're about to go into battle!" she heard Lily scold, "What are you singing for?!"

"I know, I know, to save Sir Drosselmeyer, I'd take on the whole army myself! And… and he said it's okay to sing to psyche myself up before a fight!"

And so Gumi was right back to her blissful kitten's ballad. " _My way of living, meow meow meow,_ _cannot be changed so easily! Besides, I simply do not have the heart to abandon the girl who keeps me as her pet!"_

After a few moments, even Gumi's superiors couldn't help but join her song…

"You're certain this is just an illusion?" Meiko asked in awe as she watched the rather strange sight of an army of marching bipedal cats.

"I don't have the power to transform them for real," Luka said quietly, "But for this plan… I don't have to. We are merely trying to gain an advantage."

Miku watched the castle ahead, waiting for the mice to notice her in the distance… she kept her hand hovering over one certain button for when they were in range…

* * *

'… why did I ever wake up?'

This endless nothingness felt so much more comforting to the Nutcracker compared to the misery he was being forced to live through right now… would an eternity as a doll be so horrible? And the longer he slumbered, the easier it would be to forget he'd ever lost anything at all…

But something _had_ made him leave this place of comfort and safety. He tried to recall it because he felt as if that was terribly important to him.

 _"My Nutcracker."_

He remembered the first time she picked him up and the elation he felt as she stood in amazement over him. Even when his long sleep had robbed him of his past, he still remained aware of the pangs of loneliness before he awoke. How wonderful it felt that this girl thought him a valued treasure!

And then… she sang to him… he could remember every single word, and how desperately he'd wanted to sing with her. For the first time in his long sleep, he'd desired to be alive again!

"What?! Where is this nonsense coming from?!"

He heard Rin's voice as he clawed his way back through the dark haze. "No, I showed you, you can't put so much faith in others like this!"

At once he found himself back in Pirlipat's bedroom, his good deed turning sour as he was cast out of his old life, her stinging insult ringing in his ears.

But her cruel words melted as he drew out words of kindness.

 _"My Nutcracker!"_

* * *

 _"Kaito, I promise I'll never treat you like she did! You're not ugly, there's nothing wrong with you, you're my dear nutcracker!"_

 _He could hear her panicked voice as he retreated into nothingness, begging him to return. He wanted to return, for her if not for himself._

 _"Kaito… I won't give up on you… so please come back… I'll never let you be that lonely again…"_

* * *

"S-stop that!" Rin shouted, "How dare you invade my mind like that!"

Kaito finally became aware of his surroundings again… and the fear on the King and Queen's face. 'Wait, did they see that too?' he thought to himself.

"Rin, get ahold of that thing! What's it doing now –"

* * *

 _With a loud crash, she was lying right on top of him, inches away from his face as he held her with the one arm still attached. All he could think about as he looked up at her was the lovely shade of teal her eyes were, how they matched her soft hair that draped over his unfeeling hand…_

 _He'd never thought of anyone the way he thought of Miku, and in this moment, with her so close, he didn't want to think of anyone else either. And yet… he couldn't say it. All of a sudden, his normal freedom in how he expressed himself seemed entirely inappropriate. Was he **scared** of speaking?_

 _Or was he scared of her not reacting the way he wanted?_

 _'Ah! This… this is something I need to ask Uncle about!' he thought, 'This is one of the things he's really good at!'_

 _And then she leapt off of him and the moment passed… but even as he felt no confidence in speaking from his heart, the realization that he just wanted to touch Miku and be able to **feel** that she was there began to fire him up for the grisly task he needed to accomplish… if he could just kill the Mouse King and Queen, he could move on with his life and-_

* * *

"You… you were supposed to kill me to end your curse!"

Len's loud voice broke through the memory. "You had me right where you wanted me! Why didn't you just kill me then?!"

"Because he's a coward!" Rin screamed.

Whatever the clockwork heart was supposed to do, now it was working in reverse. And the King and Queen of Mice were falling apart before his eyes. "I didn't kill you because… I know you're not really a mouse, Len."

Just hearing those words made the King erupt with rage. "What nonsense are you spouting!?" he shouted, his whiskers standing on end as he bolted up, "And you'll address me as a KING!"

The King of Mice looked to Rin when she didn't speak and his anger evaporated as she clutched the heart close to her chest. "L…Len…" she whispered as the heart began to glow…

"What's it doing?! What's in my head?! Rin, what's going on?!"

* * *

 _He'd started to forget how he came to this strange place. Sometimes he'd remember that he and his sister had quietly stalked a purple-haired faerie with dark skin through the woods. They'd debated calling out to her, but neither of them had the strength to do so. They couldn't trust **anyone.**_

 _They could only trust each other._

 _Until they got lost. Now the faerie was gone, and they had no sense of direction to get back to shelter. But he'd assured her this was better, even as his heart pounded with fear – they were starting a new life together, right?_

 _Their old life was awful… one of constantly being forgotten. Working until they were exhausted. Meager meals, cold beds, and ratty clothes. Beatings when they didn't obey. Then finally threats of being torn apart forever._

 _This life wasn't turning out much better, but at least it was one they had some control over._

 _They were too proud to beg… and so they began to take what they needed from these strangers._

 _The dolls had nothing of use, but the humans kept all kinds of tasty candies and cakes in their homes… he'd scurry in like a clever rodent, while she would create a distraction and he'd help himself… a miserable life, one that tore at him and crushed at his spirit as he lost sight of anything else but staying alive…_

 _He still remembered the sound of her screaming as she saw the long round ears that had sprouted up almost overnight on his head. Then another scream when he pointed out her long tail._

 _Now even the kindest of humans chased them away with brooms and sticks, and they took to hiding in the shadows…_

* * *

Kaito blinked – now he was seeing someone _else's_ memories entirely?! But before he could grasp what was happening, the next several memories rushed into his vision one after the other…

* * *

 _The first time she woke up with a mouse standing at her side, she screamed… until it told her it would do anything she asked._

 _As her empty stomach gnawed and growled, she asked it to bring her any food it could find._

 _This time it returned with two more mice… and food enough to keep the both of them from having to steal any more for a few more days._

 _Day after day, the twins would awaken to more mice surrounding them, and they started to grow bigger every day. But eventually she grew bored of only sending the mice out. If she couldn't trust any of the humans or their gigantic dolls… she could trust the mice. They were like **her.**_

 _And every day she felt more and more power in her heart… magic swirling through her clawed fingertips._

 _They needed a place suitable for their growing multitudes._

 _She needed a title._

* * *

 _The cats tore up many of his mice, but their numbers grew every day. The more he hated the way they saw him, the more they seemed to arrive, summoned up from the depths of his soul._

 _He posted his ultimatum – that the first victim of the King and Queen of Mice would be the proud Princess who betrayed them._

 _If they so hated the dolls, then she would become one herself. A grotesque living example of their power._

* * *

 _She laughed as she skittered out of the princesses' bedroom but her screams as she saw her new body were exquisite. Now everyone would fear the mice for real!_

 _Let the foolish human King hurl his toy armies at them if he wanted vengeance!_

 _The King and Queen of Mice would never suffer again!_

* * *

Kaito's head was spinning from the constantly shifting perspectives, of seeing two people's memories one after the other… but they made one thing perfectly clear.

"You… you came from the World Beyond… just like me…" Kaito murmured, "It swallowed you up… and you forgot everything…"

Tears flowed freely from the Queen's eyes. "I… I don't understand… we've always been mice…" she sobbed.

For once the angry King was struck silent as well, patting down his body as if just realizing what he was for the first time.

Kaito tried to grasp for the right words to explain everything. If he understood what he'd seen, neither of them even realized they'd gone to another world or understood the magic that chased them. Facing despair and hunger… it was only a matter of time before some horrible fate befell them.

'And most of the faeries aren't like Auntie Luka… if they knew about them, they would have stayed out of it…'

Before he could say anything else to the shocked pair of mice, a loud animalistic yowling sounded from outside. Rin and Len stopped their panicked crying at once and shuddered as Kaito realized what it sounded like…

"KING LEN! QUEEN RIN!"

The doors to the throne room burst open as several frightened mice scampered inside. "Outside! An army of c-c-c-c-cats! Led by… the KING OF ALL CATS!"

At that the two mouse children stood up straight. "We… we must take to the roof!" Len declared.

"WAIT!" Kaito shouted, but the two royals fled the room as the howling outside refused to abate. Soon he was all alone again, manacled to the pillar…

"Ahhhh, I was so close!" he shouted in frustration.

He tugged uselessly at his chained up limbs. His eyes scoured the chamber for a key, but he had no such luck. "Well... I'm sure if there's a bunch of cats outside… it must mean Miku is on her way or something…"

He tried to take some heart in that, but what if the panicked mice came up here? He didn't trust their stability as Rin and Len broke down in front of him. He slumped against the pillar. "They'll probably chew me up to bits…" he muttered, "At least I won't feel anything…"

He tried to take some comfort in the happy memories he'd gotten to experience with Miku again… he had so many from such a short time! Fixing James, the sleigh ride, sharing stories, singing together, that time she pulled him loose from all that equipment and he got to hold her…

"…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am an IDIOT!"

Kaito turned his head as far as he could – his wrists were bound up incredibly tight by the chains, giving no slack. That could work in his favor. "Okay… just gotta… pull… as hard as I can…"

He tried to force his body forward as with all of his might. He was certain the manacles were digging into the wood if the scraping he heard was any sign, but a little cosmetic damage was nothing if he could just…

POP! CLACK! CLINK!

Kaito's arms came free as his hands clattered to the floor. He started to pull himself around and try to get his handless limbs connected to their correct appendages again.

"Okay… now the feet!"

He stood up to his full height, watching the chains go tight. He jumped forward across the floor, and as he slammed into the solid stone, he heard the chains hit the floor as his feet fell out of them. "You know… sometimes it's not so bad being a doll!" He said with a laugh.

As he crawled over to set his feet straight, he realized he had a few options ahead of him. He could break Gakupo loose… but he had no idea how safe his uncle was right now. "Uncle was already doing rather poorly… what if he doesn't even recognize me?"

If he wanted to save Gakupo… he needed to recover the toymaker's heart. And right now… Queen Rin had run away with it.

"Please be safe, Uncle… this time I'm going to save you for real…" Kaito whispered.

He knew in his heart after all he'd seen that he couldn't kill the mice… and he didn't know how he was supposed to free them from all the magic they'd succumbed to. But he would never live right if his own freedom came at the deaths of innocents. "I'll think of something… maybe they'll be easier to reason with… I mean, I know they won't just throw up their hands and give up, but… they were close!"

He clenched his wooden fingers together. "Okay Miku… you're working so hard …"

He stood up on his repaired legs, wincing at all the scrapes and scuffs in his lovely paint. "I know you'll be right behind me…"

And with that he ran out of the throne room, his wooden footsteps echoing in the dark stone halls…

* * *

 **A/N:**

I hope this chapter, the memory sequences were easier to follow. I panicked a little after the last chapter's reception and tried to make it more explicit. From the perspective of the person seeing them, though, they tend to be very sudden and jarring, and I do want some of that in the text as well.

Home stretch of this extended story! Frankly, I don't know how I ever expected to cram this story into 10 chapters, or even 11 chapters. There's just too much going on and the characters needed to breath.

A lot of brand new Vocaloids released in the spawn of this story's existence! I kind of wanted to pay tribute to at least one of them (much like how I put Cyber Diva into a small part in Broken Wings). This story is a lot tighter though, so the cameo is very "blink and miss it."

It's just barely still Luka's birthday in this time zone tonight, so happy birthday Luka-chan ;)

 **Song Credits:** Gumi sang a few of her verses of the Gumi/Len duet "Ah! It's a Wonderful Cat's Life!" You know, just in case Gumi actually saying the title of the song wasn't enough ;) I really couldn't help myself.


	11. Chapter 11: The Fall

**Chapter 11: The Fall of the Mouse King and Queen**

Luka kept her arms extended freely as she preserved her sense of calm to maintain the illusion over the dolls. Such a massive spell could not be cast and forgotten – she needed to concentrate on her task.

Once she and Miku set off inside the castle, she would release it… by that point the chaos within the ranks of the mice would be enough to allow the dolls to storm the castle and try to defend it. Or so they all hoped. She was relying entirely on the military strategy of a yet untested general who'd ascended to her role quite by accident.

But as the loud roar of the "King of all Cats" scattered the first wave of mouse soldiers, she felt a strange sensation. Was she actually… eager for the fight?

'A faerie full of bloodlust… that is most unbecoming…'

"FORWARD!" Miku shouted as she tugged some more levers.

With a great jerking motion the cat reared back… leaping forward most impressively for being a gigantic metal toy. The sight of such a large creature pouncing seemed to have frightened the mice more than even the roar.

"Charge forward!" Meiko shouted to her army.

"No, no, the King of all Cats is going to destroy us all!"

Mice were not brave creatures… they liked fights they could win. Usually they relied on numbers. But a certain instinct took hold of them upon seeing their age old nemesis amongst them.

The wall of the castle grew closer…

"We don't have a ram for that door…" Meiko said in a low voice.

"Then we ram it!" Miku said.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" the princess shouted, "We're riding the cat!"

"Then just hang on!" the pigtail girl shouted as the creature began to pick up speed.

"Miss Luka, please talk her out of this madness!"

But the princess's pleas fell on deaf ears as Luka gave her a calm smile. "Oh, I think it's a fine plan," she said, "I can't break the illusion yet to blast the door down anyway."

Luka tried not to laugh as the princess gulped and grabbed a large piece of metal. The girl could show some true bravery when called upon, but certain moments still made her jump back into being a sheltered child.

The faerie secured herself carefully as the cat approached ramming speed. The only person's fate she had any inkling of… was Kaito's. And only if he did what he was supposed to do.

Everything else was up to herself.

The stars told stories of the directions of all mortal lives, but until the events took place, that's all they were. Stories. Some of her kin believed them to be more than that – fixed and unchanging. But not Luka. More and more she saw them as warnings and chances, but just as malleable as clay.

She recalled that Gakupo was missing from her vision of Kaito's victory. She had an inkling of why now. She'd heard stories of outsiders consumed by magic, but having finally seen it happening in front of her to Miku gave her some insight as to how swiftly it happened and the nature of how it consumed them.

And how to save the person from themselves.

The great iron door buckled the second the cat crashed into it. Meiko let out a yelp, but Miku's focus was too high for her to relent. Luka maintained the illusion just a little longer as she saw the doll army reaching the doors. "The mice are starting to turn back to the castle…" Meiko said under her breath, "I should stay out here and make sure they don't get in there…"

"We can handle what's inside," Luka said calmly, "Miku is not by herself."

Luka wondered what it would feel like to fight the Queen again. She would not underestimate her a second time – for all of her inexperience in magic, she was dangerously clever.

Once more the cat rammed into the door, bringing it down. The cat began to shake and jolt. "Ah! I don't think we built it strong enough to be a battering ram!" Miku gasped, "We need to get down about…NOW!"

The faerie summoned her orb… stretching it into a thin barrier… "Jump! I'll protect you!"

* * *

Kaito tried to follow the sounds of silence to find his way to the roof. With the chaos of the fight outside, his loud footsteps were easily forgotten.

"That cat is as tall as a tower! No, a mountain!"

"It's grey like death! It will devour us all!"

"Prepare the cannons! Start getting them down the stairs!"

He shook unsteadily as he heard a ramming noise. 'They must be trying to get inside!'

The Nutcracker saw light peaking down from a stairwell and hoped he was looking for the _right_ rooftop.

When he heard a girl's familiar crying… he _knew_ he found the right rooftop.

Sunlight streamed down on him as the cries of battle outside the castle surrounded him. But he saw her… the Mouse Queen, deeply embracing her King as he tried to calm her.

"Why does it hurt so much… why does trying to remember hurt, Len?"

The boy held her tightly. "It must be a trick… the Nutcracker is trying to tear us apart so he can kill us…"

"I won't kill you."

The twins looked up at him, the Queen in fear, the King in anger. "Liar! Everything you've shown us has been nothing but… but… lies!" the King shouted half-heartedly.

Kaito wanted to be patient – he had no idea how long they could have been stuck like this. He'd completely forgotten being anything but a doll when he was taken over by sleep. It was only rational that they'd behave in anger as well.

"Everything you saw was the truth!" Kaito said, "I don't know where you really came from, but it's not here. You're not mice! You can still end this if you let go of what made you into the mice!"

Silence. For once neither of them had a retort. Maybe he was getting somewhere. He pressed on. "You forgot everything because it hurt too much…I understand! I've felt it, I've lived with it! I spent fifteen years as a toy, and… and I almost didn't wake up! That's why I…"

"Shut. Up."

Kaito's speech stopped as Len looked at him with dangerous eyes. "I… I won't let you keep hurting us like this… Rin and I survived this long by staying away from people like _you._ "

Rin released her brother, wiping her tears and nodding in agreement. "I'm not about to trust a would-be murderer. You've committed one crime too many, Nutcracker!"

"No, I promise, I – "

Kaito's words were silenced as the twins clutched each other's hands. "We'll stomp you like the pest you are!" they shouted in unison.

Their bodies dissolved at once into inky blackness, merging into one great cloud. It began to take the form of a gigantic mouse… but to Kaito's horror, as the creature's head formed, another sprouted next to it… and then another…

As the beast solidified again, Kaito counted seven heads in all. Each head wore a silver crown between its ears, roaring loudly at the hapless Nutcracker. "Wretched creature!" they cried out with seven voices, "You'll be nothing but sawdust before The Great Mouse Lord!"

Before he could stop it, he saw the animal grab the clockwork heart and toss it in the air… only to be swallowed by one of the many heads. It stomped its feet as lightning crashed down around Kaito. He ran around trying to avoid getting hit as more bolts began to fall.

He had no weapons. He hadn't been able to find any in his flight to the top.

'No, I won't accept that I failed! I just have to… um… wear it out! Right! I'm a doll and it isn't!'

As lightning crashed close enough to nearly fry him, Kaito realized wearing the Great Mouse Lord down would be no simple task…

He nearly fell over as the castle shook from being rammed again. He leapt close to the wall at the edge of the roof to see a great clockwork cat… and a white bubble of light with three people inside drifting down…

'I have to hang on… I promised her I wouldn't die…'

* * *

It felt a slight disturbance… then nothing. The object controlling him had vanished, absorbed into another.

It was _free_.

"We… we must go protect the castle! From the c…c…c… cats!"

It tested its strength as it shook against the chains holding it against the wall… with several loud snaps, they came undone to its brute strength, though its shell revealed several dents from the force.

"It's up AGAIN?! What are we supposed to do!?"

As the chains fell to the floor, it charged straight for the steel door, wrenching it loose from its hinges as if it were nothing. Just seeing it made the mice in the dungeon with it begin to panic. "Ahhhh! Send out the word for reinforcements! It must not reach our rulers! Smash it to pieces if you must!"

It had only one drive – find him, protect him. Black smoke surrounded it as it crashed through the confused beasts. It would only break those that tried to stop it from reaching him.

It knew where he was. Before the control was lost, it saw through the great beast's eyes and it saw him fighting it. Outside, atop a roof. It remembered glimpses of him being dragged towards a throne room… so it had some idea of where it needed to run to fulfill its commands.

The mice tore at it, screeching and hurling insults it paid little attention to. It would kill them, but only if they interfered with its path to the Nutcracker. Burst of smoke accompanied its hasty footsteps as he crashed through them.

Before it left the dungeon, something glittering with multiple colors caught its eye. It ceased its run as it recognized it as a weapon, a sword. A sword was suboptimal – some kind of rifle would be better. It heard another mouse leaping towards it.

The sword would suffice.

It reached for the sword, slashing out and effortlessly slaying another mouse that tried to stop it.

It heard something from outside bar the heavy doors to the dungeon. Naturally, it began to crash against the doors at top speed. It was flawless, it could endure the damage.

The doors finally shattered to its strength and it exploded through, ignorant of the splinters, ignorant of the screeching, and ignorant of the rattling of metal in its shoulder…

* * *

Miku landed in the snow gently as Luka's spell vanished. "I thought you said we couldn't fly?" she asked.

"I never said I couldn't _float._ "

Meiko turned back to look through the doors. "I… I want to go inside with you but…"

She looked out to her army. "I can't sacrifice them for our safety either…"

Miku touched her shoulder. "I understand," she said, "We'll sweep through the inside and find Kaito and Gakupo."

"I'll ensure the mice don't interfere with us," Luka added, her familiar white orb floating in her hands.

Meiko tried to flash a confident smile. "Please… when you find Kaito…"

She started to have second thoughts about her words. "No, just bring him back safe. We can talk then."

Miku and Luka ran inside the dark, dank castle. The moldy odors and ragged furnishings took her by surprise – this was a far poorer castle than the great Marzipan Castle that Gakupo had built for her! Luka twitched her fingers and the light from her orb grew brighter in her finger tips, keeping the path illuminated as the corridors grew darker. "How can they live like this?" Miku asked.

Luka's answer was quick and to the point. "They _are_ mice. They don't need fineries… just food and shelter."

Miku tried to keep herself alert to the attack she was expecting at any moment. There _had_ to be more mice in here, none had flooded out when the attack began. So where was the resistance? She glanced to her faerie companion, and Luka appeared to be bracing herself for a fight that still hadn't happened.

And then they heard it. The sounds of dozens of mice screeching and howling through the corridors. "Get ready!" Luka hissed.

Out of one of the halls a small brigade of mice came charging out. "Must protect King and Queen! Must protect King and Queen!"

When they put their beady mouse eyes all over her, Miku grabbed for her sword. "ACK! Intruders! Get upstairs, get the heavier artillery!"

To Miku's surprise, the mice simply abandoned her on sight, fleeing up the hallways. "What… in the world?" she said in awe.

Her answer seemed to be barreling towards her. She heard the sounds of loud metallic footsteps, and several more mice banging against a thick metal shell.

And then she finally saw a clockwork automaton with purple hair and a familiar overcoat charge forward through the mice… running with a nearly single minded purpose…

For just a moment she saw its empty grey eyes…

"Wait! Godfather!"

But the clockwork man only stopped long enough to hurl off one of the mice that had tried to jump on top of it, killing it at once from the force. It didn't even acknowledge that someone had called out to it.

Miku looked helplessly to Luka. "He's already gone… will this still work?"

Before the faerie could answer, she looked behind Miku and leapt through the air, performing a delicate twirl as an explosion of light filled the corridor behind her. Smoke wafted out of the hall. "That took care of his pursuers…" she whispered, "We need to try and catch him. We'll try the new heart out when we do."

Miku clutched the heart in her coat, trying to rely on its steady ticking to keep herself calm. "Well, maybe he knows where Kaito is…" she muttered.

The two women tried to keep up with the automaton. From the noises they heard ahead of him, the mice were still trying to hold it off. At one point Miku just barely got another glimpse of him as he was pounced by several more of the creatures who proceeded to try and beat him with clubs. While her godfather prevailed, by now it was becoming apparent his metal body was hardly indestructible even if his will was powerful. His clothes were tattered from the constant attacks, dents and scratches all along his metal shell.

As they continued their path further into the castle, Miku saw signs of light. "Are we nearing… the roof?"

"OPEN FIRE!"

For just a moment Miku smelled the scent of gunpowder as she saw cannons lit at the end of their current path. "Luka, get ready!"

Several large cannonballs rocketed through the hallway. A wall of light just barely stopped them, but the faeries footing slipped as she tried to keep herself and her companion safe…

…and a familiar automaton slammed into it.

"NO! GODFATHER!"

As the shield vanished, Gakupo crumpled to the floor, the cannonball that had crushed his chest cavity rolling away with it. Metal gears and bolts scattered all around him. At first Miku thought he was dead before he started to jerk around.

"Miku. Stay with him."

Luka leapt through the hallway, the orb dancing around her arms. Miku tried to prop what was still left of Gakupo up. With him right in front of her, the extent of the damage to his body was far more obvious.

"Find him… must find him…"

The tinny voice that emerged from his shell frightened her, but watching him try to jump back up to his feet even more so. Even if his will was intact, his body wasn't, his legs collapsing back under him. "Godfather… stay put… we're going to help you…" she whispered to him.

Miku feared another volley of the cannons, but it never came… a blast of smoke filled the halls, but no gunpowder. Luka ran back over to Miku, kneeling at Gakupo as he still kept trying to force himself up. "Luka, is he… is he dying?!"

The faerie touched a hand to his metal shell as he shook. "The spark is… weak…" she murmured, "There's nothing that says he's invincible like this…"

"Flawless…" he murmured again.

Miku quickly tugged the heart back out of her jacket. "Okay, what's next?"

Luka took the clockwork toy in her hands. "I… I'm not sure this will work the same way…" she stammered, "Not when he's injured like this…"

"No, Luka, don't say things like that now!" Miku argued, "We've come so far!"

The faerie's eyes shifted from the heart to the severely damaged automaton whose movements seemed to be slowing. "I put the original heart into his body to try and grant him some semblance of humanity again, but he never truly became human… he still had that metal body underneath the flesh and blood."

She looked him over, lingering on the cannonball damage. "I could well kill him trying it like this…"

'No! This isn't… godfather won't…'

Luka gave Miku back the clockwork heart. "Miku, listen to me very carefully. You know better than I what happened to him, what that magic feels like. You survived it."

She wanted to forget it, the horrible sensation of being overwhelmed and snuffed out by the crushing force. "Tell me what it was that you fell into so we might save him!"

The automaton's arms slipped. "I was to be… flawless…" The voice sounded so weak.

Miku tried to plunge herself back into the events of the last twelve hours. Luka had told her she attracted dark magic to her… but what was the catalyst?

"I felt like I failed Kaito and Gakupo. I just wanted to hollow myself out and hide. I felt so fragile and weak."

She tried to hold back her tears for once. "It felt like an escape from the inevitable."

"Gakupo… did you want to escape?" Luka whispered.

He didn't answer. "No… that's not what you've been saying…" she said, "You wanted to protect him, not evade him."

"Gakupo… you feel like you failed Kaito?" Miku asked.

She placed her hand on his cheek, feeling the cold metal that remained of his face. "You've lost more than just him… do you blame yourself?"

She tried to look into Gakupo's grey eyes. "Please, Gakupo… what was it you told me? That even though you lost Kaito, you were grateful to have us too!?"

Finally her tears fell more freely as she thought of what he meant to her. "Gakupo… you remember when you built me that cat I asked you for? Right outside, I built another one… a big one… and I was so excited to show you how well I did…"

He started to twitch, an incomprehensible stream of noise emitting from his mouth. "I… I made you a new heart… I used your own plans and everything… I wanted to bring you home… I can't face mother and Mikuo with you gone!"

She sniffled. "Gakupo, you always inspired me to be more than I thought I could be! All I wanted when I was a little girl… was to be your apprentice! To make toys and inventions and… and make everyone else as happy as you made me!"

Miku saw a slight glow from the heart in her hands, and a slight whisper emitted from Gakupo's shell. "Flawless… I must… be… flawless… for them…"

Luka clutched one of his metallic hands, but this time she didn't shed a single tear. 'Is she trying to be strong for him now?'

"Of course you're flawed. You're a mortal, all of them are."

'ACK! Luka!'

But Miku's panicked reaction didn't stop her. "I… am no different, after all. From the beginning I could have protected you from these wretched events… sent you home to your family, or drew them near… but all I could think of were my duties and not how they could hurt you…"

She lowered her head closer to the metal face. "Seeing you in pain… when I could have acted to stop it… I'll never forgive myself for that. That's why I stayed here. To protect something that seemed so fragile compared to myself… but you weren't fragile in the end. Even when you gave in to this horrible power, you still bent it to your will to try and save the ones you love."

She stroked his forehead. "Well, the time is now… a hopeless faerie and her broken toymaker must mend everything…"

She lightly kissed his cheek. "I will always regret hurting you… but I will never regret that I fell in love with you."

After Luka's words, the machine fell entirely silent. Miku feared even asking if he was safe, not wishing to hear an awful truth. But after a moment she felt an odd heat from the toy in her hands. She held up her clockwork heart as it began to levitate in her palm, beams of light shining out of it. "Ah! Luka, is this it?!" Miku asked.

The faerie did not speak as the heart vanished in a blast of light…

… and suddenly Gakupo _melted_ right in front of them. "OH NO!" Miku cried out, "Godfather, no!"

As the liquid metal pooled on the floor, only the metal heart remained. Before Miku could burst into tears again, the metal rose around it like bread dough, bubbling up and slowly taking the solid form of a male figure. Clothes began to form around it as the shiny grey gave way to rosy flesh and lustrous purple hair.

Gakupo's eyes flew open as he gasped for breath… they were bright blue and filled with confusion as they darted to Miku and then Luka.

"Gakupo…. Gakupo you're safe!"

Before Miku could say anything else, he put a hand to his mouth, sitting up slowly and patting down his right breast pocket from where Miku could hear a familiar ticking.

From his jacket, he removed Miku's toy heart.

"I can't believe it… I haven't had a real heartbeat in 15 years…" he said in awe, turning the piece over in his hands.

Before he could say anything else, Miku flew out and hugged her godfather, just grateful he was alive and safe. Gakupo gave her a paternal pat on the head before pushing her off. He placed the toy heart into her open hands. "You should keep this… I won't be needing it. It's good to keep your first real work close anyway!"

As he rose to his feet, steady in his movements for the first time Miku had seen since his heart had been stolen, he glanced over to Luka with a smile on his face. "We'll have time for a real reunion later," she said softly, "We have but one more task to complete."

He nodded his head. "Kaito… is on the roof. We'll put an end to all of this."

Miku clutched the toy heart close and stuffed it back into her jacket.

* * *

Kaito's wooden body was covered in scratches, his clothing filled with holes and rips. His little hat had been blown off some time ago. But he still had plenty of strength left in him.

Unfortunately, so did the "Great Mouse Lord."

"Where are they now, oh Nutcracker?!" it taunted.

"They're coming for me!" Kaito said, "I believe in them!"

"WHY!?" it shouted in rage, "You who've suffered so much, do you truly think there's a miracle waiting for you!?"

This time as it stomped it's feet, the entire roof shook. Kaito tried to keep his footing as a magical blast came zooming right towards him. Finally getting winged by it, his body rolled along the stones before coming to a stop. He tried to get ahold of himself, trying to force his body to move as the disconnect spread through him. Then he saw the great beast standing over him, holding a ball of crackling black lightning in its fist. "You should have thought of yourself alone!" it cried out, "Then you wouldn't be a pile of SPLINTERS!"

But before that magic came down on him, he saw a flicker of white light shine above him… spreading out like diamonds and protecting him one more time…

"Kaito, Kaito we're here! You're not alone!"

'Miku… Auntie Luka…'

The monster moved its great foot, surveying the two women who stood atop the roof. Miku ran close to Kaito, scooping him up as he tried to regain his momentum. "When I saw the cats… I just knew you had something to do with it!" Kaito said, his smile wider than ever.

"How are you whole again, toymaker!?"

Kaito started to sit up, and all his worries ceased as he saw his uncle, human and safe again. "Because I happened to have two very determined people in my life that never gave up on me!"

Gakupo had his sword out, pointing to the Mouse Lord. "It's not very sporting to try and fight an unarmed opponent!"

Luka deftly shifted her orb between her hands. "Do you think you can defeat us a second time?"

The distraction worked – the Great Mouse Lord stomped away from Kaito and Miku to engage their new opponents. "Miku, we can't kill them!" Kaito started to say.

"… I know. We talked it over on the way up… we knew you wouldn't want to… and…"

She looked nervous for just a moment. "I believe you. About what happened to them."

He felt some relief – at least he wouldn't be trying to do this alone anymore. "You're okay with it?" Miku added, "Luka said defeating them might not require killing them, but we don't know if it will free you…"

It wasn't even a choice for Kaito any longer. Even if it meant he might never feel anything again. "I'm certain!"

Kaito swiftly recalled his visions of Rin and Len and how swiftly they were swallowed up. "Ahhhh, it's such a shame too…" he lamented, "That heart Gakupo built, it can be used to see other people's memories. I finally started seeing theirs but now they went and swallowed it up…"

"It can do _what?!_ "

Miku reached into her coat and to Kaito's surprise he saw a very familiar toy. "You did it, Miku! You built the heart!"

"I did but… I don't know if it can do magic like _that_!" she exclaimed.

Kaito looked it over. "Okay… well, we have to try! Getting them to remember their past was working before…"

He touched it carefully as Miku held it out. "Did they do anything special to it?" Miku asked, "I don't have any magic!"

"Well, Rin kept using some kind of spells on it… but… maybe we don't have to! I mean, somehow I made her see the memories I wanted!"

Now his plan was starting to sound impossible…

* * *

Miku's fingers curled around the heart. "Kaito… this heart probably isn't as powerful as the one Luka had, but it IS filled with magic…"

She tried to recall the words she'd embedded in every one of the nodes. "The commands I gave it are the same ones Gakupo used… Listen to the pace of my heart… Release the spring in time with my heartbeat… Remember my love and never cease…"

As she considered the last command, she and Kaito's eyes met. "Isn't that a little…" she started to say…

"…vague?" Kaito finished.

He touched one of his hands to his cracked up chest. "All the memories it gave me… were about people I love…" he said quietly, "When I saw Rin and Len's, they were always about each other too…"

Right now any idea seemed worthwhile. "When it healed Gakupo, we kept telling him to remember parts of himself… that's when the heart activated…" she murmured.

She held it out for Kaito. "Let's try it… let's try and remember something important. Maybe we'll kickstart the magic again."

Miku felt Kaito's wooden fingertips on hers. "Something we both lived through…" he whispered.

For Miku, it was starting from the beginning. She held a toy nutcracker in her arms and told it all of her problems. She just wanted someone to listen, even if it was only in her imagination.

… he _had_ listened.

For just a moment, she thought she was back in the garden, Kaito in her lap…

* * *

 _Was she… singing?_

 _It sounded so beautiful…_

 _Wait, didn't he used to sing?_

 _He thought so… maybe he could try now?_

 _But his wooden body stayed rigid and silent no matter how he tried to move it._

 _She sounded so sad. 'Okay… I'll just keep trying to speak… I can tell her I'm listening! I can just…'_

 _"Well! You've been a wonderful little listener, my Nutcracker. Thank you!"_

 _It was like breaking through a wall, but he managed to say just two words…_

* * *

"You're… welcome…" Kaito said slowly.

"Kaito… it was like I was in your head…"

Miku was shaking – for just a few moments she'd seen everything as Kaito had seen it. "We did it!" he said with a big smile, "Okay, now if we can just find some way to get it to work on Rin and Len…"

A loud roar sounded off as all seven heads of the Mouse Lord cried out. "This is pointless! Only the Nutcracker needs to fall!"

As it continued to scream, wisps of black smoke began to form on the roof… taking the forms of more and more mice. "Crush them and leave the Nutcracker to the Mouse Lord!" it cried out.

The newly formed swarm began to surround Gakupo and Luka. "No! Luka, Gakupo!" Miku shouted. She could still see the bursts of light from Luka's magic, but it seemed as though for every creature that died, ever more sprang up.

"Miku, move!"

Kaito released the heart and tried to stand in front of her as the great monster pounded towards them. "Even now, you still trust this stupid girl! You only _just_ met her!"

Miku felt the heart warming up in her fingers. 'Ah! I can still make it work! While they're still so close…'

The creature swiped at Kaito, scratching up his torso again but not harming him. "What makes her any different from any of the others who failed you and abandoned you?!"

She tried to pull out something important, something she shared with Kaito, and for just a few moments she was back in her home, seeing it through another set of eyes…

* * *

 _He scrambled up the tree with his awkward boxy wooden body. Why were they trying to hurt him?! But now he'd led them far enough away that at least that kind "Miku" girl would be safe…_

 _He saw the mice climb up the trunk – he was running out of room! He started grabbing the great glass balls around him and trying to drop them below! He needed to escape, but as he ran out of branches, he realized that wouldn't be happening…_

 _He crawled out to the end of one of the branches as that blonde mouse boy crawled out to him, spouting threats at him. He was so frightened, he didn't know what he'd done to make the mice hate him, and now he was all alone and trying to fend for himself… he wanted to speak but his jaw wasn't working…_

 _WHOOSH!_

 _SMACK!_

 _A large shoe clobbered the Mouse King… he turned to look in the direction of his savior and just barely saw a pair of pigtails fly back behind the couch…_

* * *

Miku clutched the heart close. "I've… I've always fought for ones I love…" she said, her voice shaking.

Her courage started to well up. "No, not just for them! I'll fight for anyone who's weak! Even a tiny little nutcracker doll deserves to be protected and loved!"

The heart felt so warm in her hands as she tried to stay focused on the memories it was feeding off of…

She looked into Kaito's eyes and smiled for him. Kaito smiled back to her, and he stared into the many eyes of the beast. "And I keep on fighting because no matter what… I've never been alone. When I was asleep, Gakupo protected me. When I awoke, it was Miku who never left me…"

At once the great beast began to scream as a blinding light began to shine inside of its chest. "No! These are lies! You can't trust anyone!"

"You don't believe that…" Kaito said softly, "Because even now you two trust each other completely! You live and fight as one!"

The light consumed the Great Mouse Lord entirely. Rin and Len split apart, collapsing to the ground as the seven crowns scattered around them. Miku looked back and watched the mice on the roof begin to vanish. She looked back to Kaito, who carefully picked up the heart they dropped. The second he touched it Miku felt the toy in her own hands warm up again and her eyes were blinded by light…

* * *

At once, Miku was in a snowy forest after dark, far from the hard stone of the castle she'd just been standing on…

"Miku, are you okay?"

She turned and saw Kaito standing behind her. "I am but I don't know how we got here!"

She looked out around the trees. "Did it teleport us?"

The more she examined her surroundings, the more she realized she'd seen these woods before… in _her_ home. She tried to touch one of the old trees, only for her hand to pass through it. "I think we're still in a memory…" she murmured.

"Len… I'm freezing…"

Miku bristled at hearing that familiar voice again… but she stopped when she found the source.

Unlike what she'd feared, seeing the Mouse Queen and King, she was watching two human children carefully stepping through the woods, holding each other's hands. It was unmistakable who they were, but they were free of the malice and anger…

Rin clutched a coat around herself all the more tightly. "We still haven't seen any faeries… what if Ryuto was wrong?"

Len stopped walking, staring out into the forest as if he was looking for something. At one point he stared right into Miku's eyes, but he saw nothing, only further convincing her this was merely a window into an event that had already taken place. Finally the boy turned back to Rin. "I'll do whatever you want, Rin," he said calmly, "Maybe this was just a crazy idea anyway… if we run too far, the police will just look for us anyway and try to take us back to the orphanage…"

On hearing those words, Rin seemed to tense up. "No! We'll just… look a little longer," she said.

The children kept pressing onward. Miku gestured for Kaito to follow her and the Nutcracker did as he was told.

 _"The lamp of the crescent moon, the shining stars, and that lights of the town had all vanished… Even if I'm enveloped in darkness, even if I can no longer be seen, I am by your side…"_

"Wait… do you hear something?" Len said quietly after just a few minutes of walking.

"It's like… someone singing…."

 _"Even in this era coming to an end, surely there is a sprout of life. Look… If you close your eyes, your heartbeat is gentle now…"_

They picked up their footsteps, Miku running after them as well. Finally they saw her – for just a minute – a beautiful dark-skinned women with violet hair, a flowing pink and orange top, and a scandalously short black skirt. Though she sung with energy, her face bore a familiar stoic smile… just like Luka's…

 _"Even if they are hidden in darkness, there is still the fragrance of flowers and the buzzing of insects… If we understand each other, let's hold hands when we feel each other…"_

'So Luka's not the only faerie that thinks about love…' Miku thought to herself.

Rin and Len curled up behind a tree, watching the odd woman. "Is… is that…" Rin whispered.

 _"Let's cross over that nostalgic hill, the obstructing forest, the rough crag… Without any hesitation, let's go down this road together…"_

As if confirming Rin's suspicions, the strange woman began to walk into one of the tall trees… and she vanished at once, her lovely song fading along with her visage.

Rin and Len looked to each other and nodded. "If we go through there, we might not ever come back," Len warned, "Still wanna do it?"

Rin nodded vigorously. "When we go there… everything will be better! We'll find nice food and a good home… and we'll always have each other!"

She smiled brightly. "Let's go! Ready when you are!"

Len smirked. "Awww, I knew it wasn't even a choice! Okay, I'll race you!"

The twins laughed as they ran into the tree and disappeared. Miku wondered if she were meant to follow them, but she heard sobbing around her. Kaito clamped her hand tightly, the sudden crushing pain causing her to turn behind her.

There stood the King and Queen of Mice. Both of them had tears running down their faces. "Len… Len, how did it turn out like this?" Rin said in fear.

Len stared at the claws on his hands. "They… they didn't leave us any choice!" he said stubbornly.

Kaito broke away from Miku, risking being seen. This time when the mice noticed him, they tensed up but didn't attack him.

"I'm sorry the people there hurt you so much…" he said quietly.

How very like him. The only reason he sympathized with their plight was because of what they did to him.

"You don't understand!" Len protested, "Everywhere we've gone we've been cast out to fend for ourselves!"

Miku took a few steps forward. "Quiet!" she scolded, "I'm sorry you two were hurt so much, but that doesn't make what you did _right_!"

Kaito shot her a look of surprise, but she didn't let him silence her. "What of the dolls that you kept injuring in that war? What of the curses you laid?! Did you think because you were in pain that made it okay to hurt others in return!?"

"Nobody… nobody ever showed us kindness!" Rin shouted back.

"That isn't true!" Miku shouted, "Kaito has shown you kindness over and over again, even after everything you took from him! But even if he hadn't… Kaito suffered too but he never hurt others for it! What did you accomplish chasing him so far?! What did you ever expect to get out of your revenge!?"

"Miku! That's ENOUGH!"

She'd never seen Kaito yell at her before, but whatever she'd said finally upset him enough to interrupt her. He turned to the mice again. "I can't speak for everyone… but…"

He smiled for them. That same smile he gave when he just wanted someone else's pain to vanish.

"I forgive you."

Rin fell over into the ground, sobbing her eyes out. "Why?!" she cried, "You've known nothing but suffering and… and you still… forgive everyone that's ever hurt you!"

That smile began to waver. Kaito walked over to the twins, knelt down, and put his hand on Rin's shoulder. "I didn't understand it at first either…" he said, "I used to just want everyone else to be happy, even if it hurt. I never liked it when people I loved were upset… so I just pretended to be fine so I wouldn't make it worse. Eventually… I thought it would be best if I just vanished so they wouldn't get hurt anymore… but… that didn't work."

'Kaito… when you fell asleep… you were trying to…'

Miku's anger at the mice was replaced by fear for the poor Nutcracker as she realized what Kaito had wished for. "I started trying to get stronger… I learned that if I forgave them and let them try to fix things… it made it easier for me to move on too. If I just tried to get revenge it's no different, is it?"

The little mouse girl looked into Kaito's eyes. "How... how do I make it better?" she said, her voice shaking, "I want all of the pain to end… for me… for Len… for everyone…"

Kaito looked up into Len's face. "You both came from the World Beyond…. You just didn't know what happened to you when you got so scared…" he said, "This world's magic took advantage of you, twisting all that fear and devouring you when you were at your weakest. But it's not permanent. You can still be humans again. You can still go back to who you were."

Len looked at his hands again. "I… I don't want to ever hurt another person again… human or doll…"

He held his head. "I just want to go home…"

He looked over to Miku for a moment, and she could only see the eyes of a lost and frightened child. "Miss… I'm sorry…"

Rin stood up and looked to Len sadly. "But what happens if we go back? If they don't even remember us? I don't know how long we've been gone…"

Miku started to notice something different about Rin's face… her whiskers were falling off and her black nose was changing into a human's nose. "Then we'll start all over again…" the boy said, "We'll have each other…"

But his voice sounded unsure. Miku swallowed and stepped forward. "This forest is close to where I live!" she said calmly, "I'll come and look for you, I promise! So… so you'll have someone new that you can trust."

Len looked up at her in shock. Now he was looking more like Rin, losing his mouse-like face and now his floppy ears were shrinking. "You'll really do that?!" he said in surprise, "After everything we did to hurt you!?"

Miku nodded calmly. "I know what it felt like to be swallowed up… I only survived because I had friends that fought it with me."

She tried to put forth a braver face. "If you're really sincere… then I can forgive you just like Kaito."

Kaito tried to smile for them. "I'll take you home myself if I have to!" he said, smacking a wooden fist against his chest, "And when everything is done… I'll come and find you two! So now you have me AND Miku!"

Len looked to his sister, grasping her hand. Neither twin had a single mousey feature left. They looked just as they had when they'd disappeared. "Okay! We'll hold you to that!" Rin said, smiling with true happiness for the first time.

"We'll make ourselves a new home and… you can come see us whenever you want!"

* * *

A blinding light consumed Miku's vision. She fell to the ground, the two hearts falling with her. "Miku, Kaito, are you all right?!"

She heard Gakupo's worried voice as he ran over to her. "We're… we're fine…" Kaito said, "Where's Rin and Len?!"

Miku looked up to see her godfather kneeling before her. "There was this great flash of light… and the four of you just vanished…" he started to explain.

"I was about to start flinging as much magic as I could to locate you, but then you came back…" Luka said, "And all the mice are disappearing into smoke…"

She made her little orb disappear in her fingertips.

"Rin and Len went back home…" Kaito said with a bright smile as he stood up, "The King and Queen of Mice have fallen forever."

Miku stood to her full height, looking Kaito over expectantly. They'd defeated the King and Queen… so now his curse should be gone, right?

But after several moments, he looked no less the banged up toy he'd been before. Kaito looked over to her and noticed her upset expression. "Miku, I thought you were happy they were saved?" he said curiously.

"But Kaito, you're not saved yet!" she said, "You're still a doll!"

Kaito looked himself over, but then he shook his head. "Oh, it's okay! I did what I wanted to… so…"

He started to walk over to the wall, looking down at the battlefield. Miku followed close behind, and they both saw the wreckage of the battle. While the dolls had taken some injuries, it was nowhere near as severe as the ambush. Gumi seemed to notice them from below and she started waving to them full of excitement.

"I'm so sorry Kaito," Miku apologized.

"What for?" he asked, still confused.

She looked up into his painted on eyes, seeing the grain of his face, his little wooden nose, and his false mouth. "I wanted to save _you_ too."

Kaito tried to smile anyway. "It's okay though! Rin and Len are human again, and now everyone I care about is safe…"

His smile began to fade as he walked closer to Miku. "… does it matter? If I'm still a Nutcracker, will you still…"

Everything seemed to blur around her… she felt exhaustion tugging at her. "Miku…. If I was a Nutcracker forever, would you still be able to love me?"

Before Miku could answer, she felt her legs growing weak. Days of not sleeping weighing her down. "Miku? MIKU!"

She felt Kaito catch her in his wooden arms as she collapsed, claimed by the lost slumber…

* * *

 **A/N:**

Phew. Happy Valentine's Day and… Happy Kaito's 10th Birthday (the first one.) I guess there was some romantic stuff in here though… though not really for Kaito XD

To be honest, a lot of plot points from earlier in the story came about all to work up into this chapter and the turn of events with Rin and Len. In the original story, both the Mouse King and Queen are evil and they are killed. I ended up not choosing to do that because the second I put actual child Vocaloids into those roles, it seemed very callous. I had some different endings in mind where Kaito would kill the two Mouse Royals and that would somehow "free" the real Rin and Len but trying to explain how he could do that was much more complicated than it needed to be. So working out how I could create an actual redemptive villain arc led to a lot of other arcs coming together. Even Clockupo didn't exist until I started solving this arc.

Similarly, I always wanted Miku to basically charge the mice riding a giant toy cat, it was always a question of how to get there. But that was more because I thought it would be a lot of fun and I love giving my leads a Big Damn Heroes moment.

Remember how I said all the way back in the author's note for the first chapter that the Mouse King had seven heads? Welp, this is how I worked it in :)

Gakupo melting and leaving a heart behind is a direct reference to the fate of the poor Steadfast Tin Soldier. Not only does the poor guy die in a fire along with the ballerina, their bodies melt together to form the shape of a heart in death. Except I'm not a depressed Dutchman with serious relationship issues, so of course Gakupo is fine.

 **Song Credits:** In case it wasn't obvious, yes that faerie in the woods was Merli, and yes, that's one of her only original songs, "Beyond the Darkness". I wanted to get the two actual fairy Vocaloids into the story, and Lapis got a speaking role so naturally Merli got the singing role. I kind of lucked out that a Merli song with a subject matter appropriate to the story was actually translated into English. She actually completely tanked and has very few songs at all, let alone translated songs.


	12. Chapter 12: The Clever Girl

**Chapter 12: The Clever Girl and the Wooden Boy**

Miku felt herself falling from an immense height, followed by a jolt…

Her eyes snapped open and she found herself lying in her own bed, clothed in her night gown with her arm wrapped in the bandage. The light of the sun shone through the window of her home.

Miku tried to leap up, yelping as she felt a sharp pain in her arm. She crawled out of bed more slowly, her eyes traveling across her room. Nothing _appeared_ to be disturbed… save for her nutcracker, who lie upon the floor.

She carefully picked up the nutcracker, examining him carefully. "Kaito?" she whispered.

The doll didn't react to her at all. He also appeared to be in perfect condition, unlike what she remembered of him being torn up and ragged by the end of his fight with the Great Mouse Lord…

Miku stood and rested him gently on her bed. The events she'd experienced flew through her head… they were all so real… what did it mean?

A rapping at her door disturbed her thoughts. "Miku, are you ready for breakfast yet? Gakupo is going to be here any minute now!"

"I… I'll be right there, mother!" Miku called out.

She walked over to her toy castle and knelt down, examining every single inhabitant in a new light. "Meiko?" she whispered, tapping her finger to the red-garbed princess.

But the little doll princess didn't react either.

She opened up her closet, where she'd long ago stored old toys granted to her by Gakupo. All of them were in perfect condition… including the pink haired ballerina. She picked up the faerie, staring into its painted eyes. "Luka?"

The ballerina stayed as silent as everyone else.

Miku turned back to the Nutcracker on her bed, waiting for him to leap to life again… but he stayed as silent as everything else.

"…. No! I know this can't be false!"

She ran to her wardrobe and threw her clothes on as quickly as possible. She was going to get to the bottom of this! She grabbed hold of her nutcracker as soon as she was clothed and marched out of her bedroom.

"Oh, Miku, good, I won't have to call you a second time!"

Her mother walked over and began to fuss over her bandaged arm. "Oh good, it's healing well… you don't need any more laudanum?"

She finally noticed Miku carrying her nutcracker tight in her arms. "Oh, you're showing Gakupo how well that little toy was fixed?"

Miku felt her nerves rising. "Mother… his name is Kaito."

At that the older woman gave a sigh. "I hope that's Gakupo's idea… honestly, I know he means well, but it's not right for a girl your age to still…"

Miku interrupted her. "Kaito is the boy I saved from the Mouse King and Queen in the living room the other night."

For just a moment, her mother's jaw hung open in surprise. "Miku, we've been through this… that was a dream! You were sleep walking!"

The girl held firm, clutching the Nutcracker tightly to her chest. "The mice came back last night too!" Miku continued, "They tried to take this poor Nutcracker away with them… and they put a spell on me when I tried to save him! We had to escape… we fled for our lives into a kingdom of dolls and sweets and fought a war… we were gone for days…"

By now Miku noticed her brother was in the room with her. "Miku, are you sure you just bumped your arm and not your head?"

But she would not be so quickly silenced… she loved her mother and brother dearly, but she had to assert herself as well!

"We met so many kind people… dolls and humans both! We even made friends with a princess, and a faerie and –"

"Miku, that's ENOUGH!"

Clearly her mother was tired of being interrupted. "Look at that doll, right there! How could it possibly have gotten up and walked around?"

She pointed to a calendar on the wall. "And how could you have been gone for days? I tucked you in myself only last evening! And you're here, right now!"

Miku tried to hold on just a little longer, but she _didn't_ have an answer for this.

Her poor weary mother let out a deep breath as she held a hand to her forehead. "It sounds like you had a very beautiful dream, but you must put such dreams out of your mind."

Miku tried to listen for a moment… her mother wanted what was best for her… and yet…

"Mother… Gakupo…. Kaito is Gakupo's nephew!"

No sooner had the words left her lips than Mikuo's rollicking laughter filled the room. Even her mother seemed rather amused by the mere idea. "Miku… that's ridiculous… I'm pretty sure if Gakupo has any nephews, none of them are a _toy nutcracker_!"

On that, the woman tried to pry the poor Nutcracker from his protector's arms. "Now, stop this nonsense at once or I'll throw it right out!"

Miku tried to shield him from her. "No, I shan't let you hurt him!"

"Oh dear, have I come at a bad time?"

Miku managed to wiggle away from her mother as she heard a most welcome voice – her dear godfather. "Gakupo, you straighten things out!" she said, running over to him, "Tell them about Kaito! Tell them about the faerie! And and…"

She heard a ticking sound as she approached him. "Tell them about your clockwork heart!"

Mikuo was still laughing so hard he looked ready to collapse. "Miku, you've lost your mind! Godfather isn't a clock, he's a man!"

The older man let out a long sigh. "Oh dear, dear, dear…" he said.

Miku's eyes widened at his strange tone. "Miku, I must apologize… I think I got carried away in that last bedtime story I told you."

She turned to Gakupo with worried eyes. "No! You were there… you saw all of it… I built you a new heart and…"

While he didn't laugh as Mikuo was, he didn't exactly react well either, looking at her with sympathy. He pulled out a small, worn silver pocket watch on a short chain, softly ticking in his hands. "Miku, I'm impressed with your imagination, but I told you I keep a pocket watch on me… and surely I'd have dropped dead if someone tried to give me a toy heart."

Miku took a few panicked steps backward. How could Gakupo turn on them like this? He'd been there, he'd seen everything…

"Godfather, you don't just have a clockwork heart, you have a nutcracker nephew according to Miku!" Mikuo said between great guffaws.

Finally her poor mother couldn't stand it any longer. "Miku, you're going to give up that silly toy this instant!"

Gakupo moved to calm the rather cross woman down. "Now now, she just had a fantastic dream! I should be honored to have played such a brilliant part!"

Was that really all it was? The more she heard them speak, the more it seemed like another fantastic dream…

"Miku, I'll make it simple to you," Gakupo said calmly, "If you went to this fairy kingdom, then how did you get home?"

His question shook her to the core. "I… I…"

Her lips shook. "I woke up in bed…"

Again her mother reached for the Nutcracker and she felt it slip from her grasp…

'I… I was still thinking of the mice because of my sleepwalking… nutcrackers… aren't real…'

"Such ridiculous, foolish nonsense," her mother muttered, "I'll give him back to you when you've regained your senses."

Gakupo wouldn't straight up lie to her – he had nothing to gain! If the Nutcracker really was his lost nephew, Gakupo would have done anything to save him. Yet he didn't even flinch as the doll was pulled from her arms…

Miku watched as her dear Nutcracker was carried away from her. Everything she'd felt, everything she'd done… just the dreams of a hopeful girl…

'No… I can't abandon my Nutcracker! I promised him I'd never do that!'

She ran into the next room as her mother began to open a cabinet to lock the toy up. She rushed forward and took the toy from her mother's hands. "Miku! What's gotten into you!?"

"I won't be told that I'm lying!" Miku protested, "I know what I saw! I… I don't care how impossible it sounds! And I won't let poor Kaito suffer any more for it!"

With that she tore out of the back of her house, clutching the doll tight in her arms. She could barely hear her mother's quick footsteps, before they stopped at the sound of Gakupo's soothing voice. "Let her run it off… clearly that dream meant a great deal to her… she's a clever girl, she'll come around…"

Eventually she heard nothing as she ran into the snowed over garden, collapsing onto the bench. She turned the Nutcracker over in her hands and stared at him sadly. "Kaito… did you fall asleep again?"

The small toy gave no answers – not a word, nor even a true smile. Just that little boxy lifeless body, its painted face, and permanent toothy grin.

She touched its hair gently as she tried to summon her memories of him from what felt more and more like a lost dream. The last words he spoke to her drifted into her mind… an emotional question she'd left unanswered.

"Oh Kaito... whatever you may be, you're my dear Nutcracker… of course I love you, to the end of my days."

A loud cracking noise sounded out at once, a great force knocking Miku right off the bench. As she regained her senses, she patted around in the snow and realized her Nutcracker had simply _vanished_. "Where did it go?" she cried out in confusion, sifting through the snow for any sign of her beloved friend.

"Hey! Miku!"

Mikuo's voice cut through the chilly air as the older boy trotted through the snow, his short teal hair hanging out of his light cap. "If you're done playing with dolls… Gakupo's _real_ nephew just showed up."

He snorted with laughter. "Just try not to embarrass yourself telling him that crazy dream-"

Mikuo's words were cut off by the rapid running of his sister through the garden. She had her hands balled into fists as she tried to keep up a pace… she saw the familiar front walk and the stoop… she could see two people standing in front of it… a woman clothed in white with long pink hair and a young man in a long white and blue lined coat, his scarf the same shade as his brilliant hair…

"KAITO!"

He turned his head to her slightly… only for Miku to rush forward and put her arms around him with such force that both of them tumbled right into the snow.

"My god, Miku! I… I must apologize for her behavior, she's not well!"

Her mother's stumbling apologies meant nothing as Miku quietly held the person she loved. She ignored the burning sensation in her bandaged arm as it pressed against the ground, because all she could focus on was the warmth of his body, the sound of his breathing, the beating of his heart…

For just a moment she panicked as she looked into his face – had she just rushed up and hugged a stranger?

Until she saw something in his brilliant blue eyes… she pressed one of her fingers to his cheek as she caught a few stray tears beginning to trail down his face in spite of his broad happy smile.

"Miku… you did it…" he whispered to her.

"Well… I guess we can assume Kaito will get along fine with Miku!"

A familiar rich laugh echoed out of the house as Gakupo stood leaning against the doorway. Reluctantly, Miku got up and allowed Kaito to stand. He briefly gripped his back – apparently he felt pain again, but he tried to avoid showing too much of it. Mikuo finally caught up to them and extended a hand. "Hey there. Sorry about my crazy sister."

Kaito shook the boy's hand. "Mikuo, right? My uncle said you wanted to be a solider like him!"

"Yea… he talked about us, huh?"

Mikuo seemed to be carefully examining the young man in front of him before letting go of Kaito's hand. He looked over to the elegant woman at Kaito's side. "I didn't know he had a girlfriend…"

"Oh for goodness sake!" By now Miku's mother had been more than embarrassed enough for one day, "Please, all of you, come _inside_ , I'll show you the proper hospitality my children seem _incapable_ of displaying."

Miku looked to the woman face and saw that ever familiar stoic smile. "Thank you, miss."

'Luka… you made it.'

* * *

Naturally Miku's curiosity was brimming over as to the odd events of the morning. Aside from Kaito's tears, neither Gakupo nor Luka were terribly forthcoming with her. Hearing her godfather speak of things, Kaito had lost his family and Gakupo was taking him in to be an apprentice in his toy empire. Luka was the daughter of a business partner whom Gakupo had met on one of his recent business travels… and an acclaimed ballerina. Miku's elaborate dream seemed more and more impossible, but how could she have imagined going on an adventure with people she hadn't met!?

Fortunately, Kaito's jovial attitude endeared him to both members of Miku's family. Her mother was happy to meet a bright young man with a solid trade, and once Mikuo picked up on Kaito's experience as a soldier, he was peppering him with questions about what it would be like to fight in a real battle or fire live cannons.

Miku noticed Kaito was very selective in what he chose to share. But the entire time she sat there watching him speak, she couldn't stop studying his face. She'd only once seen Kaito as a human, and only in an illusion… she couldn't stop contrasting his appearance with that of the doll she'd known. He still smiled, but they were so much more natural when his cheeks actually moved. He was still prone to blushing, but now the rosy shade faded naturally.

As for Luka, she seemed surprisingly adept at handling the many questions about herself and her life. While normally a career such as dancing might have gotten _Miku_ some disapproval, there was a level of prestige a prima ballerina carried that allowed her to transcend it. Luka discussed performances for royalty, and her many travels, and Miku thought she detected some pride slip in to her otherwise calm voice.

But finally the children were released from their "hospitality" and Miku practically dragged Kaito off with her, to Gakupo's great amusement.

* * *

Kaito walked quietly at Miku's side as she pulled him through the snowed over garden again. Finally they'd reached the same bench where she'd sung to her Nutcracker on Christmas Day. She bunched up her fists tightly… suddenly her nerves were tense as she took a seat and patted for him to join her. So many questions rushed through her head...

It was Kaito who broke the silence first. "Miku… I heard what you said… this morning…"

Her heart began to pound. "All of it," he added.

He seemed at least as nervous as she was… but finally the most obvious question passed through her lips.

"How did you break the curse?"

At that, Kaito gave a happy laugh. "I didn't do anything!" he said, " _You_ broke the curse!"

Miku recalled her emotional pledge to him before the toy vanished… "You can't tell me it was simply the power of _love_?"

Kaito began to blush again as he looked out into the snow-coated trees. "Well… um, after you fell asleep… you kind of vanished into light… Luka said you were probably back home, in your room safe and sound the night you left. But… if that was the case, you'd start to recall everything as a dream…"

Miku crossed her arms and huffed. "Well Gakupo could have straightened it out for me!" she said.

Kaito chuckled. "Ah, please don't be cross with my poor uncle!" he said, "Right after you left, Luka told me she'd held back part of the truth about my curse… she _did_ know the last step, after I defeated the Mouse King… but… it meant that my fate was entirely in the hands of another again. My horoscope showed that… well… a certain person would have to pledge to love me as I was even in the face of denial and scorn…"

On those words, Miku began to calm as she started to understand Gakupo's strange behavior. She even found herself feeling sorry for him, having to deny his own nephew's existence like that. She started to wonder why Luka would conceal the truth, when it occurred to her that perhaps the woman who seemed so detached from social mores might be more keen to them when she observed them in others.

"Kaito… if that's the case… then how did you get back into my bedroom again? You were a tiny little doll again, like… when you 'fell asleep.'"

Kaito was so much less adept at concealing his emotions when he had a working face again – even as he tried to keep a solid expression, Miku could see some of the muscles in his face tensing at her question. "I told them…" he said, his voice catching for just a moment before he gathered the courage to continue, "If… if it really _was_ you, I wanted to be there when it happened. And if it wasn't…"

She felt his warm fingers close over her hand. "I wanted to be able to watch over you for the rest of your life anyway."

Even as Kaito spoke of such a sad event, his smile never entirely left him. The boy who never cried, who tried to conceal all of his burdens, a steadfast soldier. Miku's heart began to pound with anticipation from the intensity of his words…

He released his breath in one long sigh, a little white cloud disappearing into the chilly air as he did so. "Ah, I forgot what that looked like!" he said in awe, "You have no idea how strange it feels! I'd completely forgotten what the cold is like! When I started shivering again, I thought I was about to die! Ah, I'm so glad Luka gave me these warm clothes… and my new scarf!"

Miku found herself caught up in laughter… could Kaito really be this clueless? Confessing his plan to stay her loyal toy soldier in one breath, then talking about the weather in the next?

Kaito looked down at her in confusion. "I don't think they look that funny…" he remarked.

"It's… it's not that!" she said between laughs, "It's you! You're so hilarious sometimes!"

Now he looked downright nervous as Miku snuggled up a little closer to him, sensing the warmth radiating from his body even underneath the clothes. "You never think about how boldly you talk to us sensitive young ladies!" she teased.

Clearly Gakupo had never passed on any of his easy charms to his nephew, though there was something rather endearing about the rosy color in Kaito's face. "I… I just don't want to say the wrong thing…" he finally admitted.

"Kaito, you already know how I feel about you, because it set you free from that long curse," Miku said more seriously, "You asked me if I could love you… will you do the same for me?"

She thought she saw a few happy tears in his eyes again as he put his arms around her, tracing his fingers along her face as her pulled her closer. "Miku… I love you… I'll always love you… the clever girl who saved me…"

And with that, he pulled Miku into a soft, warm kiss.

* * *

Gakupo stood out by the window in the living area, his eyes out on the garden as he watched a bench in the distance. He knew he needed to give his nephew and his goddaughter just a _little_ bit of privacy, but surely he could be excused for worrying over two children he'd raised getting their proper happy ending?

He'd never suspected, not once, that the curious little girl he'd spent his spare time fawning over would be the very same girl he'd spent so long searching for. It was almost _too_ convenient, frankly – that he'd raise his own goddaughter to dispel the powerful magic that swallowed himself _and_ his nephew? Yet he was a storyteller in his own right, and he had to admit there was a romantic if sentimental tone to the story playing out now.

When Kaito had chosen to let himself become a normal toy again, it had taken every bit of strength the toymaker still possessed not to lose himself to fear. He had faith in Miku, but even so… it had nearly broken his new heart to set the little doll in his sleeping goddaughter's bed before Luka whisked him away again…

"I think you should have a little more faith in the two of them, Gakupo. Surely they've earned it?"

He turned to Luka, who still sat at the coffee table enjoying a glass of tea. "Now now," he said, "They're family! Surely I can meddle a little bit?"

"Even I know when to step back and let events play out as they should," Luka said.

Gakupo still couldn't quite wrap his head around Luka deploying humor against him. His image of her over the fifteen years he'd spent apart from her had certainly elevated her to another type of creature altogether. Fifteen years he'd spent as a clockwork man pretending to have a human heart.

In the end, his wish had been born of darkness and desperation, but now that everything had worked out in his favor, he couldn't fault himself for the results. He'd stayed a young man for those fifteen years, able to keep seeking out the opportunities he needed to save his nephew without being downed by the ravages of aging. But those days were over – if he stayed in this world as he was, he'd grow old and die just as any other human would.

So would Luka as her power withered away. Even if she was several orders of magnitude weaker in her home world when she wasn't amongst her celestial kin, she was still a faerie. Here she barely had the power to return home, and staying here too long would take even that from her.

A number of paths lay ahead of him. He couldn't live forever, but surely he could give the immortal creature in front of him as many years as possible? If he just rationed out his time spent managing his enterprises here… but he couldn't just vanish either. He needed another person he could trust…

"When you get quiet like this, I know you're planning something."

Gakupo laughed and took a seat next to Luka on the sofa. "Well, I might have to handle a lot of complexities if those two move as fast as they already are!"

She set her glass down and looked up at him warmly. She leaned over to him and rested her head right against his chest. Her eyes closed as she listened to his heartbeat. "To think of the many miracles that took place so swiftly," she whispered, "Every time I hear your heartbeat, I will think of how hard I worked to ensure I heard it again…"

The toymaker tenderly put his arms around his faerie, his savior of so many days. "No doubt the lady Hatsune assumes we're getting married," he said quietly, "Believe it or not, it would be rather scandalous for us to be this affectionate otherwise."

"Is this how humans normally propose?" she asked, raising her head up with a neutral smile upon her face.

She could still ruffle him, even now. "I… you're not human, Luka…" he stuttered, "I just… thought I should…"

"Then the next time you propose this topic, I want you to speak to me as if I was just another human woman… the way you always have."

She leaned up and gave him a light peck upon the lips before unraveling herself from his embrace. Just in time, as soon the lady of the house was present again. "I'm sorry for how ill-behaved my children were this morning… I do wonder if it's just going to get worse as they get older…" she said.

Gakupo glanced out the window, though he had a hard time making out what the two "children" were up to. "Oh, I have faith in them," he said, "Miku is a very smart, capable young lady. Mikuo is a strong and stubborn young man. They'll figure things out, just like we all did."

As the older woman took her seat, an idea popped into Gakupo's head that might ease some of the tensions in his surrogate family. "You know, with Kaito coming back to apprentice with me again, I was thinking… Miku seems to get along quite well with him. And while it wouldn't be the most conventional arrangement, she _is_ rather good with mechanics."

Far beyond "rather good", but he could spare the tale of the giant clockwork "King of Cats" for another day.

"Frankly, my enterprise is such I need more than one apprentice," he continued, "Instead of shipping her off to the marriage conveyor, I could arrange to have her start up with me in the spring."

The older woman cocked an eyebrow at him. "Would your men really be all right seeing a woman take on such a profession?" she asked.

It _wasn't_ a rejection. "I think they'd manage," Gakupo said, "We're a little bit of an unconventional operation anyway. Besides, I think if we play our cards right, we could even solve the 'marriage problem'!"

Not that Miku needed to have such a farcical "problem" solved, but it would remove a number of otherwise artificial barriers for her. Besides, he already knew what she wanted to do.

For once, he saw a smile on his old friend's face. "I think… that would make her very happy," she said whimsically. "Yes… very happy indeed. Besides, I'd feel more comfortable if she marries someone related to you anyway. I just hope he doesn't stay as eternally youthful as you have or she'll be quite jealous of him as she gets older."

Gakupo grabbed for a cup of tea.

* * *

Rin sat on top of the rock, soaking in the warm breezes of early spring. "Heh… late again…" Len laughed, "I'll bet Miku was distracted by some new toy idea and lost track of time."

Rin curled her fingers around a small cloth heart. She'd sewn it herself as a memento of the odd dreams she still sometimes had. Like snippets of another life she'd lived.

Ever since she and her brother had awoken in the woods, their lives had been different. While it felt like they'd only been gone a matter of minutes, the town they returned to revealed years of lost time. At first she had been certain she and Len had gone to the wrong one but even with the amount of newness, there were still familiar landmarks, streets, some of the houses…

The orphanage still stood, but it was in surprisingly better shape. It had a new name, and a fresh coat of paint. None of the children who played in the yard looked familiar. She'd grabbed Len's hand tightly as they walked inside, expecting a serious thrashing for having run away all night.

Inside they received an even odder reception. None of the adults were the same people they'd seen before – and they seemed utterly flabbergasted at having a pair of children show up claiming to have lived there! A call was made to try and seek out their actual parents in town, as surely these twins must be playing some kind of prank…

… eventually a man with green hair ran into the orphanage and at first Rin barely recognized him until she spotted his bucked teeth.

Ryuto.

Nobody entirely believed him, even as he protested that the two children in front of him were the same as the two who had vanished fifteen years ago. His friends. Rin began to wonder if her old life was a dream somehow as well… but Len assured her that something magical had happened. He told Ryuto that they'd sought out the faeries that night… and now they'd returned.

Even though many of the adults assumed it must be a coincidence, that Rin and Len simply looked like two children given up for dead, their story spread like wildfire once the idea of them having an adventure with faeries caught on. Even the mere idea of two children vaguely resembling the missing twins seemed like some kind of divine providence.

In their absence, the loss of two charges had caused an uproar – the orphanage's management was replaced and it became a far more pleasant place to live for those left behind. All the talk of splitting them up had vanished.

Not that they were going to be staying there much longer. A nice couple had heard the stories and sought out the sleepy little town in the hills where the "faerie children" lived. Leon and Lola… no, soon to be her mother and father. She liked them – they were well-off performers in a big city, but they were childless and ready to start a family. Rin could already imagine being part of a big concert with Len and her new parents and hundreds of people clapping for them…

But there was to be a sad parting along with the happiness of a family… their new parents lived quite far.

"Kaito! Miku!"

Rin stood up and waved as she saw them coming through the woods, smiling and laughing together as they held hands. "You made it!"

"Of course we did!" Miku said with a smile, "When have we ever let you down?"

In all the chaos of trying to piece together what had happened to them in the fifteen years since they disappeared, Rin and Len realized that they both possessed some kind of shared dream. Some of it was frightening and hard to recall. But there was one part that she recalled with clarity. A kind girl and boy promising to be her friends.

And so Len had taken Rin into the woods where they had awoken and waited. Before long they saw two people that looked exactly like those in their shared dream – though she'd thought in the dream that the boy had looked like a giant doll.

Perhaps the "dream" wasn't of the past, but the future. After all, she couldn't recall the circumstances in which she met with Kaito and Miku in the dream, and in the present they didn't seem to know who they were anyway. She decided she preferred that – she was fairly certain in the dream she'd hurt them somehow, and now that they'd become close friends, she didn't want to imagine that!

"Len, are you getting taller?" Kaito asked cheerfully, touching a hand to the shorter boy's forehead.

"Yep, I measured, I've grown a whole two inches over the last two months!" Len said proudly, "Hey, maybe I'll catch up to you some day!"

Miku walked over to Rin and smiled. "Hey, Miku, before Len and I go… could you make me something? Like a new toy?"

Miku seemed to have a talent for crafting unusual toys – something the kind Gakupo had started to teach her. Technically so did Kaito, but he wasn't as good at it yet… it rather worked out that Rin and Len would be moving soon, as Gakupo was supposed to be taking them on as apprentices soon.

"Sure, I think I can manage that!" Miku said, bouncing on her heels, "What would you like? Something cool to remember me by?!"

Rin clutched her little cloth toy again. She'd sewn it not long after she'd awoken, based on some half-forgotten memory. But now she desired a real one. "A music box… shaped like a heart."

At first she thought she'd made a rude request when Miku made a shocked expression. "Is there something wrong?"

The twin-tailed girl shook her head quickly. "No… of course not."

She thought she saw Miku wipe a tear from her eyes. "I can already think of just the song!"

Rin smiled. "Good… then whenever I hear it, it'll be like we're still together!"

She heard Kaito laughing. "Oh, stop talking like that!" he said, "We'll come visit, I promise!"

"But we're going all the way out to the capital!" Len said, "Where exactly are you two going anyway?"

Kaito put a finger to his lips. "Somewhere… very far… but very close…" he said with an impish smile.

Now it was Rin's turn to laugh. "Kaito… you're always saying the weirdest things! I can't wait to see what you get up to when you're a full apprentice!"

In the past she'd been broken hearted about losing a loved one, but now… she had faith it would turn out okay. They would stay together even across vast distances. And the next time she saw Miku and Kaito after their long separation… she and Len would have so many wonderful stories to share.

* * *

 _"'If everything has to end, I won't fall in love,' I said. But if you don't fear loss, it's not that bad to reach out…"_

Miku smiled as she could hear her godfather singing along the humming assembly. His workshop looked so much lovelier now that it was in full production and restored to its proper glory, his "Gearbolt Girls" wandering the lines and checking on each toy, each one wearing matching uniforms of white shirts and tan overalls. Miku herself wore a simple white blouse and black trousers – perfect for the assembly line and toy work!

 _"Words are always a betrayal, I'm running away from my promises… But now I'm putting aside grim speeches and going to meet you, so be ready for me!"_

"Ahhhh… Sir Drosselmeyer's voice is so dreamy…" Gumi enthused nearby, "Miss Luka must be missing it so…"

Miku sat at a small drafting table, hard at work with an idea that had seized her in the middle of the night. She had to see it through to completion so she could show it to her teacher as soon as possible!

 _"Parade in a night full of light… A kaleidoscope of a scene you saw in a dream… Drumroll in crescendo… A story with no end…"_

Luka was spending some time up in the stars again, restoring her powers and performing her long neglected tasks. At first Miku had thought Gakupo would be broken hearted, but he seemed rather positive – she always came back, and this time it wouldn't be nearly such a long separation. Besides… he still had logistics of his own to work out.

"Miku! Miku, you have to see this!"

She heard Kaito's excited voice ringing out in the basement. "I think I got it! I mean it this time!"

Miku set her pencil down as she stood up, watching Kaito coming bounding down the hall… right as he slammed into poor Gumi, bouncing away from her soft rubber body and making her drop an entire box of bolts. "OH! Gumi, I'm so so sorry, I didn't see you…"

Kaito tried to help the rubber doll woman gather the rolling bolts from the floor again. "Ah, Kaito, it's okay… I should know by now to just duck and cover when I hear you get excited like that!"

She laughed at her own joke… then blushed deeply as she saw who was standing next to her to help. "Well, at least _Gumi_ isn't as badly hurt when these accidents happen!"

Gakupo scooped up the last of the bolts and handed them to his awestruck worker as she stood to her full height. "I thank you for forgiving my clumsy nephew for his enthusiasm! Oh, these are the hexagon head bolts I was looking for! Why don't I show you where they're going to go?"

"Sir Drosselmeyer…" she said softly as Gakupo whisked her away to another part of the assembly line.

Kaito returned to Miku with a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry about that…" he said, "If you still want to see it…"

Miku smiled for him. "But of course!"

Kaito led Miku back outside, past the many new and old faces now hard at work. Gakupo's workshop was in the process of expanding… many of the workers now lived in temporary housing outside, but soon they would have proper homes. Even if dolls didn't exactly need the same trappings as humans, Gakupo still wanted to treat them with respect. He already expected a little factory town to grow up, with the promise of no additional interference from the Marzipan Crown.

Not that it was remotely a possibility anymore. Once "Princess Pirlipat" returned home with an army more loyal to her than to her parents, it was _very_ easy for her to start changing how her kingdom was run. Life wouldn't get easier for dolls overnight, but they were at least getting easier for Kaito now that he wasn't being chased around by the king's men anymore. After many letters were exchanged between the two old friends, the princess finally arranged to come by on an official visit to the renovated workshop just a few weeks earlier… though for her close friends, she refused to be known as anything but "Meiko."

That was fine… Miku knew her and learned to trust her by that name in the first place. She could never see such an important friend with any other name.

Miku stepped outside into the warm summer sun, smelling the fruity scent of the Rose Lake on the soft breeze. Kaito had lined up several small clockworks toys in the grass. Most of them were holding instruments, but one stood alone in the center. A little doll with a pair of pigtails and a little boy with a scarf.

"Kaito, you made a full band?" Miku asked, examining all of them.

"I always wanted to try it…" he said, "I think I've finally got the nodes working correctly though. The hardest one was the singer and the dancer…"

He walked behind each one, turning the keys. A distinct melody began to play. The little girl began to twirl around as the boy with the scarf began to sing…

 _"Continuation becomes strength," Other people can say it easily but the reason we've come all the way here is because we supported each other, right?"_

Miku glanced over to Kaito, who was watching his toys while biting his lip. The doll had his voice – likely because he'd had to use the magic to give it a voice at all. Yet from his nerves, it was almost as if he was expecting something to go wrong. All his recent training with forging the star nodes, and he still made mistakes…

 _"I'm right in front of you but I can't touch you at all, this is the only thing I can do so… I hope my message reaches you! Let my voice reach you!"_

Now Miku half expected the singing doll's pitch to vary out of tune or for the girl to trip over or smack one of the little band mates with her hair. But she stayed perfectly steady as she danced around the boy, just out of the reach of his hands.

 _It's okay if you cry, It's okay if you cry, only tonight! I'll be right next to you! Oh oh oh oh oh! Yes, because I'm your one loyal prince!_

The little singer's words had such passion… it really sounded just like how Kaito would sing, whenever the mood struck for him, yet this song was a passionate plea from a little boy that had to settle for being heard when it couldn't be touched.

 _"Every day bathes you like the starry night and lights up tomorrow! Ten years ago, tonight, and ten years from now, your smile is my most precious treasure!"_

Miku could have burst out laughing at watching Kaito fall backwards into the grass as the song finished, the two dancers close but not quite touching as they stared into each other's clockwork eyes. Their creator had relief etched into his face. "It took me _forever_ to get that part right!" he said.

 _"Day and night, any time I'm here, thank you, so grateful! If we're all warm, your heart's relieved so we have to be a duo, you and me!"_

Miku took a seat at his side, watching the little doll singer and his lovely partner proudly take a bow before returning to its motionless state. "But you never gave up on it, Kaito… that's why you got it eventually…"

He put his arm around Miku, clutching her tightly to his side. "After everything I've been through, I think putting a little more work into being a toy maker's apprentice is pretty simple…"

Miku snuggled up closer to him, listening carefully to his calm heartbeat and enjoying the warmth of his body, the soft grip of his hands. The song he'd chosen for the dolls he'd crafted couldn't be any more blatant in its intent. It wasn't just a song for others… it was a song for her.

'It's kind of sappy… but he's got so much heart, I can't help but love it anyway…'

* * *

 _"Hardships are unending, until we're drowning in despair… Our world is in darkness, reaching out becomes frightful…"_

As Luka stepped into the busy workshop, her soft white tutu bouncing with every step of her light dancing shoes. His inviting voice laid out the path to the person she sought. The person she loved.

 _"But if we hold on to one thing, no matter how paltry, it'll be fine if we have the courage to step forward…"_

She could have laughed watching the little green haired rubber doll hanging on her boss' every note as he sang without abandon. This was the way she wanted to remember him – so caught up in what he loved that he thought of nothing else.

 _"I told them to you at the start, lost things inside of your dreams… The flames will go out some days, but it'll fine if we'll rekindle them each time"_

She almost felt guilty interrupting Gakupo with her presence, but she wanted more of him than his songs…

"Ah… Sir Drosselmeyer!" Gumi gasped, "I… I… Lily is… and… Ineedtodoathingnowbye!"

His song ceased as Gumi skittered away. His look of confusion shifted to joy as his blue eyes met Luka's. He dropped his work at once as he swept over and embraced her tightly. For once he had little in the way of his charming words.

As she happily returned his embrace, she thought she could get used to him being more of a man of action…

"I hope it wasn't too long…" she whispered.

"It's _always_ too long," he said, "But you _always_ come back…"

The light ticking of a clockwork heart in a pouch hanging around her waist was barely audible over the machinery. "You won't let me forget you," she said.

They parted just enough that they were still holding hands. "Gakupo, I had to come get you at once…" she said, "Tonight's my return to the stage. It's just not right to dance up there without my biggest fan watching."

"I thought that was the princess?" Gakupo joked.

Of course the brunette would come to see her idol. "Then I guess I'll have to settle for you," she said slyly.

Gakupo looked around the workshop. "That's all well and good, but how do you plan to get us there in time?"

Now this required some delicate work in her home. She hadn't _just_ returned to get her powers back. She had a job to do – after the disaster with the mice, she had to ensure the faeries understood the danger of ignoring the world below.

Far less important to the universe itself, but extremely important to her however…

"How would you like to walk along the Celestial Road?"

The toymaker blinked several times. "I can do… what?! You said humans can't get up there!"

Luka laughed lightly – his reaction was as hilarious as she'd hoped. "For the three of you, three humans who fought against fate and saved so many… I am allowed to let you cross with me. We'll arrive at the theater in mere minutes."

After so many years of her watching the humans, of learning all about their worlds… now a human would learn about _hers_. She eagerly awaited his reaction to seeing the stars as closely as she had for thousands of years…

Gakupo pulled Luka close to him all over again. "Then I suppose I'd better get my best clothes ready…" he said softly.

As she leaned in and kissed him, she placed one of her hands along the back of his neck, the light from the basement windows glinting off of a small diamond ring on her left hand…

* * *

Kaito clutched Miku's hand tightly as he walked along the river bank in the late afternoon sun. He loved holding her hand, knowing she was right there and she was as alive as he was. Something most people would take for granted had become a precious gift to him.

 _"In a canvas of a dusk, I watched a wine red sunset go down, on my way back home… I wonder if your heart already painted what my feelings are?"_

Miku sang softly as they walked, her heart at ease. He loved that voice, the one that had pulled him out of so many long darknesses. The one that cheered him up every single day. The one that had inspired him to write his own song, just for her, and work day and night to make sure his toys could perform it properly.

 _"This evening, we have plenty of time… I just want to spend all of it with you! Let's be at ease and take a deep breath, watch closely, It's going to start!"_

The warmth of the end of a summer's day, the scent of the Rose Lake, the wind tossing his scarf, even just feeling the sticks crack under his boots… every sensation felt brand new.

He thought about Rin and Len… the last letter he got from them included a sketch of them from the newspaper with their new parents. He couldn't imagine those happy smiles belonging to the frightened Mouse King and Queen.

He thought about Meiko. No doubt she'd be present at Luka's concert… he couldn't wait to show off the little toy band he'd finally managed to get functional. She'd become a hero to the dolls who she stood up for… a change from the proud yet lonely princess who kept herself sheltered.

He thought about his suddenly larger family. Miku was eager to get her brother and mother a place in the Land of Dolls and Sweets, but they both understood this task was delicate. Even so, he couldn't wait to show Mikuo a true clockwork army.

Most of all, he thought of how every breath he took felt like freedom after so long without. It seemed that every day was filled with possibility. Even if there were setbacks again, he didn't feel trapped into eternally smiling and staying silent.

He never felt alone.

 _"Miracle painting, wonderful technique! The finishing touch is not done so hold on a while! When I'm done I'll tell you just how much, I really do…. I love you!"_

He turned to Miku as she serenaded him with the last verse. He still didn't know how to talk to her as smoothly as Gakupo did, but sometimes it didn't seem to matter. She liked his honesty… and more and more, she understood the meaning of his silences.

"I love you too," he said, "My clever girl."

Miku's smile felt even warmer than the sunshine reflecting off the lake. "My Nutcracker," she said.

Kaito reached out and kissed her, her lips soft and smooth. He ran his hands through her hair, just absorbing the sensation of how silky it felt. He always loved having her close, and the reassurance that he would always be able to feel her light caresses, just like now as she brushed her fingers along his neck.

They parted just briefly. "Did you need to get anything else done before we leave tonight?" he whispered.

She pulled him closer. "Nope… I finished the drawing… I can start building it tomorrow..."

And she leaned up and kissed him again.

* * *

On Miku's drafting table, a small golden clockwork heart lay atop the blueprints she'd sketched up, holding them in place. A picture of her mother and brother was pinned to the corkboard, next to another of Rin and Len smiling and making faces into the camera in front of a glamorous theater.

Sketched onto the paper was an elaborate plan for a clockwork nutcracker.

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N:**

And so my third great Vocaloid novel comes to a close. A little longer than I expected, but a bit cleaner I hope.

So this chapter is special for a lot of reasons. First of all, two of the songs in the story were translated by readers so I could use them in this story! I love this kind of synergy =D But more of that later.

Second, happy birthday AGAIN to Kaito! This is actually his official birthday, though he got a lot of love on Valentine's Day already. I hope this is an acceptable birthday present to him. Writing for Kaito has gotten me through a lot of difficult times.

And to that I say thank you to everyone who read the story, whether you ever left a single comment or review or lurked in the background. I really appreciate all the support. I learn a lot every time I write, and I always enjoy talking to new readers and old readers alike. This story was very interesting – all throughout, I'd hear from other people about what versions of the Nutcracker they remembered as a child. And apparently a lot of you seem to all remember the Barbie video, so perhaps I should have actually watched the Barbie version at some point and made a cheeky reference XD But it seems to be a story a lot of people remember and get nostalgic for, then rediscover as adults in some fashion. Welp, that's what happened to me and that's why I made Kaito into our Nutcracker. It was so fun hearing people talk about the stories they remember!

Early on I was asked how I would handle the "just a dream" ending of the original story. That kind of surprised me, because as far as I knew, the original story never did use a dream ending. But as it turns out… most versions of the story, even the ballet, imply that some or all of the events were a dream even though Marie/Clara usually meets a human version of the Nutcracker at the end of the story.

Well, the source novel sure doesn't. It just straight up tells the reader that Marie fell asleep and was taken home by the Nutcracker's servants. She still faces derision and disbelief when she tries to tell everyone about her adventure. Even Drosselmeyer debunks her story rather thoroughly. But she refuses to give up on the Nutcracker and finally pledges she'd never treat him as poorly as Princess Pirlipat did… which lifts the curse over him.

So I did a variation on that, except I gave a lot of the harsher lines quoted from the novel to Miku's mother because in my version of the story, Gakupo would have been a total jerk to tell Miku she was speaking "rubbish" when he darn well knows what happened ;) And being a sentimental sap, of course it's _loving_ Kaito that would break his curse, not simply being okay with him looking ugly. I still tried to get some elements of the original ending into the scenes at her home, even if I obviously did my own thing past that point.

If you want to know what's next, right now, it's nothing, but don't worry too much about me resting on my laurels. The writing has been amazingly therapeutic for me, and this story will always be very important to me for how personal many of the conflicts became. If you're looking for potential updates from me, I will post them on my DeviantArt page, my Wattpad account, and my Tumblr (all of these as Rebochan) since those let me notify readers effectively. I'll periodically update my FFN profile as well, but that doesn't send out notices to my followers on that site.

 **Song Credits:** I know the Gakupo song will leave a lot of folks scratching their heads. It's "Prince of Stars" from the album "DEBUTANTE VI". Most of the songs at that album were never released and there's no PV, but I was complaining about how hard it was to find perky Gakupo songs and Gakupo god Narumo translated this one for me. It kind of works too given Gakupo is basically dating a space fairy in this story ;) As for Kaito's song, well how terribly appropriate, this one is "Attakaito" by halosy, producer of Snowman! It was written for the Glorious Blue album, and the PV was released right on Kaito's 10th birthday! That's right, it came out less than a week ago! I shared it on DeviantArt, lamenting that I had no translation so I could make use of it… and reader ha-nata had it translated just in the nick of time. So enjoy Kaito, singing a song WRITTEN for Kaito's birthday, as part of a story being dedicated to Kaito's birthday. I wasn't sure the lyrics would work, but ha-nata suggested otherwise and once I read her translation, I understood immediately how well they worked for this Kaito's tale.

… and there was still one more Miku song, but I think "Miracle Paint" is pretty well known by now.

Since I can't share links in story documents on FFN, I've gone ahead and added links for Prince of Stars and Attakaito to my profile.


End file.
